Your "digital handout" must be completed BEFORE you present your tech tip. The "digital handout" is NOT a replacement for your presentation. Rather, it is a supplement to your presentation. The "digital handout" is a resource that students can visit to review the basic function of the tool, to learn MORE about the tool, and to see interesting ways to use the tool in a classroom. Your job is to create a "digital handout" that accomplishes all of those goals. The best way to describe the "digital handout" is to show you an exemplar of what is expected. Please read the wikispaces entry found below carefully. You will be expected to follow the format (use the listed headings in your entry).
A wiki is a webpage that has multiple authors. Think of it as an Online Bulletin Board where people can visit and leave content. Wiki's can be open to everyone like the site wikipedia.org or you can make the membership exclusive and restrict who can see and who can edit the webpage. In the classroom, wiki's can be used as a safe online gathering spot. Students can use a class wiki to share ideas, display their writing, or engage in a conversation. The power of a wiki is best seen when STUDENTS are editors. So resist the urge to use a wiki only as a space for the teacher to "talk" to students or post assignments.
Advantages -(Why is this tool better than other choices?)
For teachers, a wiki can be a better choice than facebook or other social media sites because teachers serve as the administrator and can monitor and see EVERYTHING that has been posted to the wiki even if the content has been deleted. (This is particularly important with the pervasive problem of "cyber bullying"). The teacher serves as the site administrator and can control the site's content by monitoring changes to the site. Wikispaces will even send the teacher emails every time a student makes a change to the site. The site has a clean navigation and is easy to use. A wiki makes it easy to share text, files, links and multimedia. Using the "widget" feature, students can add videos, slideshows, polls, bookmarks and a myriad of other content to the wiki. If you plan to ask students to write a paper, consider implementing a wiki page instead and embrace the opportunities afforded by the addition of multimedia. PS - Did I mention that creating your own wiki is FREE?
Disadvantages -
I wish I could say a wiki is perfect but sadly that is not the case. Below is a list of the flaws I discovered when using wikispaces.
The format of the wiki isn't as visually appealing as sites like facebook, twitter, etc. This may be a deterrent to today's tech savvy students
The wiki is NOT truly interactive. It is not a "chat site". In fact ONLY ONE PERSON can edit the wiki at a time. This makes it a poor choice for in class collaboration. (Other sites like google docs, typewith.me, webspiration, or moodle's discussion forum are better choices).
Because the site only allows one editor at a time, students can inadvertently overwrite each others' entries. (This can be fixed by the teacher who has access to all previous drafts).
Technical Directions-
My favorite explanation of a wiki comes from a site called common craft. Common Craft posts their videos on YouTube but does not publish an embed code. (If you want the embed code you have to pay them!) So if you want to view the video, you will need to visit the following site http://youtu.be/-dnL00TdmLY
You will need a free wikispaces account in order to create your own wiki. In class, we use wikispaces.com but K-12 teachers have a better option at wikispaces for educators. This wikispaces option allows teachers to create truly private/protected wikispaces.
Click on the above link and you will see the following dialog box.
crop.png
Completing the above form is all you need to get started.
Uses in the Secondary Classroom -
Too often wikis are used by teachers as a "glorified PowerPoint" where the goal of the site is for the teacher to present info to students. This type of direct instruction is not the best use of a wiki if your goal is to empower students to take charge of their own learning process. In order for a wiki to support the goals of 21st century learning, students must be the "creators" of the wiki content. Viewing the wiki should provide teachers with a glimpse into the students' thinking processes. When searching for good examples of classroom wikis, I found many sites that supported direct instruction like http://105.wikispaces.com/Running+For+President . In fact it was hard to find a "good" example of a classroom wiki. I did however find a few examples and my favorite comes from a 2nd grade classroom http://mrsanderson10.pbworks.com/w/page/33263525/FrontPage
Another great example comes from an AP English Classroom.
Similar Sites wikidot.com This tool is really much more than a wiki and is more like a D2L course management tool. The site's goal seems to be to encourage you to purchase their premium site. It doesn't provide the FREE privacy tools that wiki site for educators includes. pbworks.com This is a really good tool that also has a free teacher version. (The site does promote the purchase of a premium edition but the basic addition offers a lot). The features are similar to wikispaces but the platform is more visually appealing.
Overview-
Wordle is a website that allows you to make word clouds from text that you can type or paste into the box provided. Wordle is free and available to anyone looking to use it. You can make word clounds for yourself and print them out or you can publish them for Wordle users to see. Wordle is a fun and useful ways to do neat activities in the classroom and keep students involved.
Advantages-
Wordle is fun and easy to use. A very nice part about Wordle is that you do not need an account to make or publish a word cloud! The site is easy to navigate and it does not take much to figure out how to make your own word cloud. It is nice that there are some clouds available for you to view and spark your creativity. Kids love doing classroom activities that involve computers and this is a perfect thing to do a quick and easy lesson with your students. Wordle gives the students a chance to be creative with the word layout, color, and font of their word cloud. There are many different layouts, colors and fonts to choose from. Once you create your very own word cloud you can print it out and hang it for your friends to see or even publish it for the entire World Wide Web to see!!
Disadvantages-
I did not find many disadvantages, but one important thing that I did find was that before you let your students use Wordle you need to have these three sights blocked before using so they do not discover any inappropriate materials.
Another aspect I did not like was that if I typed in a list of words instead of copying a chunk of text, I couldn’t go back and add or edit any of the words in the list. You can easily fix that my copying your list of words to a word document before hitting the go button but sometimes I did not think of a word I wanted to use until the word cloud was already made and I had not copied the words.
Technical Directions-
I found a website that gave clear and simple directions on how to use Wordle, which I will post here: How to use Wordle.
It is so simple to use that I won’t show the video in class, and will instead quickly show you how simple it is to use.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom-
Wordle can be a fun and helpful activity to use in an elementary classroom. I thought of a couple activities you can use a word cloud for. My first idea was for a higher elementary grade when students are learning main ideas in writing. The students can paste a paragraph into the word box and then hit go. This will be helpful when working on main points in writing. The main point of the students paragraph should be evident in the word cloud because the words that appear the largest are the ones that appear the most often in the students paragraph. Students can share their word clouds with the class and have other student’s make inferences on what they think the main idea of other students paragraphs are. I also thought it was a fun way to work on the parts of speech and have students make different word clouds for nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. In the video in the link above, I came across two ideas I had not thought of. The video suggests that you can use the word clouds with younger students and work with initial word sounds and letters asking students to find a word that begins with a certain letter or sound. The second idea that I found from the video was that you could use the word cloud as a word bank when practicing definitions. For example you can say a definition of a word and ask the students to identify it in the word cloud.
Similar sites- http://www.tagxedo.com/ This is just like Wordle, only you can put your word clouds on t-shirts, bags, coffee mugs or really anything you can think of. You can also configure your word clouds into different shapes and pictures. It is more difficult to use than Wordle.
Overview-
Typewith.me is a website that allows you to create your own document and work on it collaboratively with others. It includes all the basic editing tools such as bold, underline, bullets, alignment options and undo/redo. You can even go back in time and see how the discussion developed. It is super easy to use and great for children and adults.
Advantages-
Groups can work collaborative together without actually being together.
There is a time slider option which allows you to see how the conversation developed and go back to parts you would like.
It is extremely easy to use. If you know how to type on a computer you can pretty much figure this site out.
It is free to use and you do not need to register with the site in order to create one.
The document can be exported into word or a variety of other sources.
You can invite people to the site via email.
Disadvantages-
There can only be a maximum of 16 writers on the document, so you would not be able to use it for an entire class, only for small groups.
The conversation can also get a little confusing since the only way to distinguish between people is colors.
It only contains very basic editing options.
You cannot delete the document afterwards; it will always be on the internet.
Pictures and other media cannot be added to the document.
Technical Directions-
Once you go to the site, there is a button that says New Pad which you can click, or you can name your document underneath in the box that says create/open document with the name.
After you create a pad, you want to use the url to invite friends to work on the project with you.
You can then click on the little person button at the top and type your name so that everyone will know what color you are while you are typing.
All of the basic editing tools are at the top of the screen for you to use while you are typing.
If you click on the clock button, the time line application will come up,and you are able to go back in time and look at how the document came to be how it is at the moment.
There is also a button at the top with two arrows which allows you to import or export a document from another place.
Lastly, the is a chat feature at the bottom of the screen so that you may have a conversation with your peers as you write together.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom-
Since it is so easy to use, children could use this site to edit a paper together. They could work together on editing it. They are even able to go back and look at the progress they have made, so the first draft will not be lost forever even while they’re saving their work along the way.
The students could also work together to create a study guide as they read. They could add questions to the document or topics that they feel are important as they are reading. Once they are all finished, they will all have a collaborative study guide to work off of.
In an English class, students could even work together to write a story or a script. They can all be working on it at the same time even if they are not all in school together. They can even go back and edit the script once they are finished with it.
Similar sites- all of these sites are almost the exact same. They are all super easy to use, they just have different names.
Overview: VoiceThread is one way to share and collect group conversations. You can create a multimedia slide show which other users can go through and leave comments in various forms. Comments can be left as text, an audio file, a video, or through voice. VoiceThread can then be shared with anyone. You can also draw on the slides while commenting and pick and choose the comments you would like to hear. Videos can also be exported to play on MP3 players or DVDs. (http://voicethread.com/about/features/)
Advantages:
Free accounts are available to anyone and it is user friendly
The video can be paused, written on, restarted, and rewound
Can be viewed by students multiple times
Reviews from their peers become part of the video
Other students can add their voices to it
The videos can be exported as a movie and can be embedded into Web 2.0 sites
VoiceThread is available as a mobile app
Disadvantages
Not all students have computers at home
Since VoiceThread involves flash movies, some students may not be able to access the movie depending on their browser limits
It can require the whole class to set up accounts
The account is only free for up to 2GB of space
The quality of the video may not be the same for different web browsers
Technical Directions
Once you are registered for the website there are many VoiceThread videos available to watch on how to use the websites. I’ve included a link to one of the ones I found more useful. (https://voicethread.com/?#q.b409.i848804)
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
It can be used for presentations, discussions, a way to share videos and or pictures, or tell a story
Can be used to explain what is going on in the classroom for parents
Prezi is a visually attractive way to make presentations. It has a zoom able canvas which allows for fun ways to explore ideas and connections between them.
Overview- Rubistar is a rubric making tool for teachers. It offers a format for easy creation and it allows it to be saved, edited, and reviewed online. It also allows for educators to see overall success on a given project Technical Directions:
Bubbl - Faith Carter Source: www.bubbl.us Overview
Bubbl.us is a website that allows you to create, save and print concept maps. This website can be used for virtually any subject. It also has a feature that allows you to share your maps with friends.
Advantages
It is not necessary that you sign up to use bubbl.us because the website allows you to make and print your concept maps without doing so.
If you choose to create an account, it is free, and you can save your concept maps to work on at a later time.
Along with this, you can choose to save your maps automatically every five minutes.
A neat feature of this website is that you can zoom in and out and fit your concept map to the dimensions of the screen which all help you to see your map better.
If you mess up, you can either undo the mistake like you can in Word, or you can delete a bubble entirely.
Also, you can print your concept map out and/or you can export it so that you can send it in an email or post it on the Internet.
When you first log on, there is a “Tip of the Day” waiting for you. These tips help you to learn more about how to do things on bubbl.us.
You can choose to change the color of the bubble and the color of the text.
You can share your maps with friends who also have an account.
Disadvantages
It can be time-consuming depending on if you want your bubbles certain colors, because you have to change the color of each bubble separately. Also, you have to position the bubbles the way you want them and if you are picky like me, this could take a little while.
You can’t make the text for the labels bigger and you can’t really move the text where you want it on the line (unless you reposition the entire bubble). You also can’t center the text in your bubbles (you can hit enter, though, so that the bubbles don’t get as long).
Also, you can’t connect two bubbles using one label. You can only have one bubble per label.
You can’t make titles for the concept maps in bubbl.us.
Technical Directions
After logging in, in the “Tip of the Day” box, you can choose a concept map you have been working on, or you can click “Brainstorm” to create a new concept map.
A bubble that says “Start Here” will show up. If you click on it, you can rename the bubble.
If you click outside the bubble, and then hover over the bubble, editing options will appear. Here you can change the color of the bubble or the text, the size, connect it to another bubble (click and hold down “connect” button, then drag the line to the other bubble), or delete the bubble. You can also click and hold the “Move” button to drag the bubble to where you want it on the page.
Also, if you hover over the bubble, two tabs will appear. One tab will be coming out the side of the bubble, and the other will appear at the bottom of it. If you click either of these tabs, a new bubble will appear either to the side or to the bottom of your original bubble.
The menu in the top left corner allows you to zoom in and out, undo if you make a mistake, and print or export.
You can also save your map as you work on it. If you click on the drop-down arrow, you can choose to automatically save your map every five minutes.
Your concept maps are displayed in folders on the right side of the screen. You can choose to create a whole new page by clicking “Sheet.” If you want a new folder to help you organize your maps, click “Folder.”
If you want to share your maps with someone else who has a bubbl.us account, you can click “Add Contact” and find your friends.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
It could be used to create a family tree.
You could have the children make timelines or a sequence of events.
Concept maps for language arts (brainstorming a story), math (steps to solve a problem), history (events during World War II), and science (the scientific method).
Similar Sites Mind42.com – This site allows you to add images and links to your concept maps. You can also attach notes. Spiderscribe.net – With this site, you can collaborate with others to work on the same concept map at the same time. Wisdomap.com - This site is helpful for both teachers (to make lesson plans) and students (to create presentations and the like).
Overview- Spelling City is a website where students can practice their spelling word lists in a fun, interactive, and entertaining way. Teachers create the spelling list and students are able to access the website and the teacher’s list of words from any computer with Internet access. Students can take a spelling test, play games, or be taught the words letter by letter. This is a great tool especially for students whose parents do not take the time to go over the spelling words with the student at home. The student can practice the words by themselves and have fun doing it!
Click on Kayla Stauffer from Millersville University
Click on the "States" list
Play a game, try the spelling test, or click on "Teach Me"
Advantages -
Teachers can create their own spelling lists under their free account and choose the definitions and sentences the students are given as hints.
Students or parents can search for their teacher’s saved list of words by going on the website, so they can practice from home or at school.
Fun games are offered to students to play online with their spelling word lists.
Teachers can print out the activity games and have students complete them for homework or when students are done early for additional practice with their spelling words.
The website has links to other interactive websites to help with vocabulary and language skills.
Disadvantages -
Some of the games are offered only for subscribers. A subscription costs $49.99/yr for a classroom.
The teacher cannot track progress or see results unless he/she has a subscription.
Advertisements from Google for other games are predominately placed on the website. The premium subscription has no commercial advertising.
Technical Directions- Spelling City is student and teacher friendly and provides step-to-step videos on how to navigate the site and use the tools. This video demonstrates how to save teacher spelling lists for students to access.
You will need a free teacher account to save your spelling lists. You can navigate the site and play games using spelling words you personally put in without an account.
Uses in the Early Childhood Classroom- As early childhood educators, we need creative ideas for the students to have fun while learning. Spellingcity.com allows children to work with the specific words you need them to know from any place at any time. I see this site being the most beneficial if the student uses it at home. Because the student can access the teacher’s spelling list from any computer with Internet, the student can practice his/her spelling words at home. I have personally seen the negative affects from a lack of parent involvement in a student’s ability to do well on a spelling test. This site allows students to get help with their spelling words without being dependent on a parent. Using this site as part of a student’s homework will encourage a student to learn while engaging in creative and fun online activities. As a teacher, you can also print out spelling worksheets from spellingcity.com and have the students work on them if they have free time or complete an assignment before other students.
Similar Sites http://www.bigiqkids.com -Big IQ Kids.com has almost identical options as spellingcity.com. The website allows students to access teacher’s spelling lists and test and play games with the words. This website does allow teachers to gather data, progress track, and print lessons as part of the free membership. The display is not as kid friendly or inviting as spellingcity.com.
http://www.kidsspell.com/- This site also has the opportunity to upload spelling lists and involve the children in playing games. However, the graphics and games are of a lower quality, and the site is not as easy to manuver as spellingcity.com. They also have a lot of advertisements and distractions for kids.
Starfall.com- Alicia Huber
Overview: Starfall.com is “a free public service to teach children to read with phonics.” (Starfall.com) It has little “books” that help them read based on a certain sound, ending, or letter. The books are animated to help with the student’s understanding.
Advantages:
Students can work on it at home
It's fun and interactive
If student is having trouble sounding out a word, the site can do it for you
Teacher's Lounge: many different resources for lessons and units.
Disadvantages:
Have to have purchase membership to have full access to the site
Don't have access to the math, color, and numbers section as well as full access to the Teacher's Lounge
Brainpop.com is an educational website with games and short videos covering all topics within the curriculum from grades K-12. BrainPOP primarily deals with grades 4-12 with BrainPOP jr. for K-3
Advantages
Students have a way to study or learn new information using fun interactive games and videos
The set-up is extremely kid friendly
There is a version geared towards ESL students so they can feel more included
Content is lined up with PA state standards
You can search content by subject area or standard
There are activities that can be printed out and completed by the students for each concept
There is a page for educators that is FREE and includes lesson plans by the subject and standard
There are also graphic organizers, activities and pretty much everything a teacher would need
There are ideas for new teachers on how to integrate BrainPOP
Can be used before a quiz to review or after learning a subject for homework to reinforce ideas
Students can complete things online and print out their scores to show the teacher
Disadvantages
It costs money for the students, ($135 just for 1 year of BrainPOP jr.) and the free trial option can only be used for five days, and is hard to renew
Can only be accessed with subscription during school hours, so it would be hard to assign homework
It would require all students to have working computer and internet at home
Technical Directions
After logging in, you can click on any subject, then on a subcategory
There are related topics, quizzes, activities, a Q&A section, a fun facts page, and an instructional video for each topic
You can either type right into the quizzes, or print it out and complete
Or you can click on brainPOP educator, where you can look up lesson plans, videos, blogs, or multiple other things
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
It could be used to supplement lessons by assigning homework from the printed out activities
It could be assigned as extra credit for quizzes
It could be used to get ideas for lessons and activities to do with students
You could use the quizzes as formative assessments during lessons
Something for students to do while others are working on tests or in the beginning of class
Similar Sites
http://www.kidsknowit.com- This site has educational games, activities, comics, music and videos. But it is not completed yet and has advertisements
Overview - Tumble books library is a website that has a collection of tumble books, activities, and teaching tools. Tumble books are an electronic picture book. These books have sound, music, animation, and narration. Tumble books are a new and fun way to read books in the classroom and at home.
Advantages - This site is easy to navigate and use. There is no limit on the amount of students that can be logged on to the subscription. This allows the children to work independently on the site or can work as a whole class. A person can try the site out for 30 days before they need to buy a subscription. The site offers a 10% discounts, if more then one school in the district has a subscription. A person can search for a particular type of book by reading level, grade, subject, author, and more. Before you pick the book you can see how long it takes to read, and reviews. Besides books the site has learning games, quizzes, lesson plans and a tool that helps outline a book report. When a sentence in the book is being read, the sentence is highlighted. Also, the site has language learning books.
Disadvantages-
After the 30 trial a person needs a subscription and it is expensive. It is $499 a year, but the whole school can use it.
There is a limited number of higher level books.
When reading the book, either it reads the whole page or nothing at all. It will not read just the words you want.
Some of the games are not educational and could distract the kids from doing there work.
Technical Directions - Tumble books website has a video called tumble tour, which shows how to use the site. I’ve included the link to the video. http://www.tumblebooks.com/LibraryTour.html
Uses in Elementary Classroom-
Once a child reads the book, they can take the reading comprehension quiz that the site provides and print out the score to show their teacher.
During English, the students can use the tumble book report to help outline their book report.
If the student has reading homework and the parents are too busy to help them, they can use tumble. The student can access this site from home and be read too.
If the teacher has a smart board and needs a quick activity to keep the children entertained while setting up an activity, they can have a book read to the student.
**http://storylineonline.net**/ This site is free and has celebrities voices that read to you. The site only has 24 books and the videos are of celebrities reading and only show quick clips of the pictures in the books.
Overview- edu.glogster.com states that Glogster is “a collaborative online learning platform for teachers and students to express their creativity, knowledge, ideas and skills in the classroom.” It is a way for students and teachers to create posters and displays virtually. It includes the use of pictures, graphics, sounds, texts, drawings, videos, and backgrounds.
Advantages
The regular www.glogster.com may be blocked at some schools because some glogs are about things that are deemed inappropriate (ex. Abortion), but because it’s used for the purpose of elementary education the edu website will filter those things.
Students do not use an email account; you create their accounts under yours.
It’s easy to use.
Students are able to be as creative as they want!
Students can easily add not only pictures, but they can also add videos, sounds, and their own writing.
It is “green” and for every premium subscription they plant a tree in Haiti.
Disadvantages
Difficult to print and have a hard copy. You would have to just take a screen shot, and even then the whole poster won’t fit into just one screen shot.
You have to pay for the site. It is $29.95/year to have 50 student accounts under you, but there is a 30 day free trial.
When creating student accounts, their names and passwords are all random letters and numbers which can be incredibly hard to keep track of unless you keep them all on file.
Hard to incorporate inclusion with this tool.
Technical Directions-
You do not need to create an account to make your glog, but to save it for further use you must create an account. A regular account is free, but you can pay for an upgraded account. The “light” version is $29.95/ year. There are different types of accounts your school can buy that can go all the way up to $4,875/year for 2,500 students. To start, choose “create new glog.” On the left is a list of the options you have for your glog. The “wall” option has tons of backgrounds to choose from. The “draw” button allows you to use a pencil and write on your bored. Each button is pretty self-explanatory. You can add media from your computer in the image, sound, video and data options. You can also add all of those things from web locations. Once media is placed onto the board you can move them around, resize them, and even send them behind or in front of another picture. The simplicity of glogster is perfect for the elementary education classroom because students will be able to navigate it easily.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
I would use this project as either a formative or summative assessment. If you are in the process of learning a certain topic it would be a great way for students to organize what they have learned, and display it for you. It would also be useful to have the student create a glog to go along with a report they are making. If a child is doing an oral report they can have their glog up on the screen to reference to. As technology becomes more of a necessity, students need to learn how to use basic computer skills. Instead of just doing a paper poster, this gives the students a great opportunity to start playing around and experimenting with technology.
Similar Sites
http://prezi.com/This website is similar, but it allows you to do more technical things. It’s a little more advanced, and it is a lot like a PowerPoint.
Overview- This website allows you to choose a story and have it read to you by a member of the screen actors’ program. 5 popular stories are shown on the home page but there are many more you can access. There are also features that allow you to buy the books, get a newsletter and view comments. You can also make a donation or see the index of all the books.
Advantages-
The website is free.
The book is read to you and the pictures are like the ones in the book except include animation.
The sounds are kid friendly and keep them entertained.
Not just one person reads all the books.
There are extra activities at the end to encourage creative thinking.
Disadvantages-
There are only 24 books to choose from.
There are no learning games or quizzes to test comprehension of the book.
The student can’t read the book themselves.
Technical directions-
Go to the URL above. Choose a book to be read to you. Once you pick a book you choose what type of internet connection you are using. You can choose whether the captions are on or off on the right. You can see the words along the bottom if you choose and can pause the book at any time. The pictures are also shown as the reader reads. When the book is finished you are asked if you enjoyed it or not and can take a short survey. There are also related activities including questions and other things you can do with the book. You also have the option of printing out the activity guide.
Uses in the elementary classroom-
I would use this as an assignment when the children are finished early or as a homework assignment and have some questions for their follow up. If I were to use this with a lesson I would use it in a kindergarten classroom. The kids could pick their favorite books or we could listen to one as a class and have a discussion about it. If the students are struggling or ahead other students this could be an extra activity for them or a huge helper.
Overview – Scrapblog is an online source to create scrapbooks, calendars, books and other items. It’s a platform to create the things online and share them via the internet or have them printed into a hard copy. You can also publish it online for others to view. You use your own personal pictures on the site to personalize your projects.
Advantages – This site is fairly easy to use. There are many different layouts, stickers, themes and other things to use in your projects. Another advantage is that the account itself is free to sign up, and you can use either an email or your Facebook account. There is no limit that I could see to how many projects you could have saved to your account which was very nice so that you never have to worry about reaching a certain amount and having to delete them. With the themes that they give you, you can use them as is or rearrange them for your liking.
Disadvantages-
Only some themes are free, the rest you must buy ‘coins’ for
With the free themes, there aren’t many background or decorative choices.
In some instances, it is difficult to add the pictures if you want them a certain way or size.
Kids have to make their own account and there is no way for a teacher to view anything but the finished product.
Technical Directions –
Uses in Elementary Classroom-
There are a few uses in an Elementary classroom. The first would be from teacher to student. A teacher could use this to create a ‘get to know you’ page for each student. They could also create books or calendars personalized to the classroom’s needs. Students could also use this in many ways. They could create a ‘family’ calendar with family birthdays and holidays, along with family pictures. They could also make a scrapbook about a historical figure.
Overview:
Pixton is a great website to help students with all the distractions of technology and give them a way to express themselves through comics. It includes many different features such as flexible characters with expression, can add text and speech bubbles, and create reusable backgrounds, and upload sound that help in creating a unique comic.
Advantages:
A fun, easy, and creative way for students to express themselves
Many different features to use in each
Able to teach students how to:
convey idea concisely
tell a story in a logical sequence
communicate with other students
comics are able to be printed, downloaded, embedded or even shared on the web
Teachers are able to monitor students as they work on the comics.
And able to decide what students can and cannot see on the site
Able to adapt to all different types of classrooms
30 day free trial
Only see buttons that relate to what you are doing
Disadvantages:
For 25 students, almost $80 to use for a year is what teachers pay
40$ a year for students to buy on their own and upgrade to pixton+
Are not able to see rubrics for teachers without registering for teacher profile and paying for it
Technical Directions:
Once you have signed up, or registered for the website there are many different templates that you are able to choose from to get started on your comic
Once you have selected a template, select a scene, characters, you are able to use the different features which pixton has to offer.
Here is a video which explains how to use some of these different features
There are videos for every feature you may be able to use
Uses in the Elementary Classroom:
Able to use on interactive white boards
A great way for children to create their own story lines with pictures and dialogue.
Rubric outlines available for teachers if they want to grade their students on their comic.
This website has very little features that are able to be embedded in the comics
Quintura for Kids-Bernadette Walsh
Source: quinturakids.com Overview: In 2006, this online search engine was launched after being designed specifically for children. It uses key words and visual icons to help kids search the web safely with a content filter. Quintura is a very useful research tool that can be used to find safe and accurate information for students, teachers, and parents.
Advantages:
-It’s absolutely free!
-It is very easy to use and even includes a quick tour of the website.
-There is an app available through itunes, which can be used on an iPad or iPod, and it only costs $2.99.
-You can search for information, games, or pictures.
-Categories/topics are already chosen for you. These are narrowed down as you continue your search.
-The results bold the key words and include the number of documents found.
-The results are based off another search engine for kids, Yahoo!kids, so the information comes from reliable sources.
-The arrows can be used to go back to a previous search or skip forward to one already done.
-It gives students ideas of what to search for and they can choose topics they are interested in.
-Because of the content filter, kids are protected from unwanted or inappropriate websites that are often found on other search engines.
-The bold type and colorful images make the website kid-friendly.
Disadvantages: -The website offers only a few different topics to choose from.
-You are very limited to what you can search for. Some topics or people may not show up in the results.
Technical Directions:-
-Once on the website, you can start your own search by clicking in the search bar and typing in the subject you are looking for, then click “find.”
-When the results show up, read the description below the link to find a website that you think looks interesting.
-You can also search by clicking on a topic included in the key word cloud or click on an animated icon that represents a certain subject.
-To narrow your search, keep clicking on key words and ideas given in the cloud above the search bar.
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
-It’s a safe and reliable search engine to use while doing a research project or even if students are simply interested in learning more about a certain topic.
-Because it can be easily accessed through the internet, it can be used on a school computer and also at home.
-It can be used to find fun games and activities that can be played in the classroom.
Similar Sites:-All of these are kid-friendly search engines that are easy to use and help students search the web. http://kids.yahoo.com
askkids.com
Casanotes4teachers- Kristen Keaser
Overview:
-Casanotes4teachers is a very simple site to use to send important notes home to parents or awards to students. The site allows the teacher to use pre-made templates and insert customized information as well as color and graphics control. There are 12 templates that teachers can choose from including things like a field trip permission form, parent-teacher conference letters, medication forms, and a student-citizenship award. A helpful feature to the site is that the teacher has the option to print the note in English or in Spanish.
Advantages:
-It allows the teacher to easily communicate with parents
-It breaks the barrier between English speaking teachers and Spanish speaking parents
-It is easy to use
-A note can be created quickly so it saves valuable time
-Notes can be saved on the computer for future use
-It does all the work for you
-It is free (no money or username is required)
-You could also copy and paste your completed note into a word document and save it for the future or even email it to the parents if the student is not reliable to bring the important notes home.
Disadvantages:
-You can only use the premade templates
-The only language that you can translate the note to is Spanish
-You are limited in the amount of customizing that you can do
-Sometimes the website does not allow you to copy and paste your completed work, depending on the graphics included in the note. In this case, your only option is to print your completed note directly from the website.
Technical Directions:
-Go to casanotes4teachers.org
-Choose one of the 12 note templates that you would like to use
-Choose the title color and hit continue
-Choose the background color and text color and click next step
-Your note is finished and ready to print or save to your computer
-If you want to translate it to Spanish, click “Spanish version” in bottom, right corner
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
-This is more useful for the teacher as opposed to the students like the other tech tips have been. These notes can really benefit an elementary school teacher because they will not need to spend hours creating various different documents for each situation. The templates on the site can be used as an easy reward for students or as an easy way to communicate to parents. Things like the progress report and homework can be used on a weekly basis to help with organization and to track a child’s progress. Outstanding Performance, Well Done, On Target, and Student Citizenship Award can be used less frequently and only for special occasions.
Similar Sites:
-http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/index.shtml#backToSchool
This free site allows you to download, save, and edit the templates that are provided. It includes back to school information templates, award templates, parent-teacher communication templates, and many worksheet and graphic organizer templates as well. The site, however, does not provide a way to translate the notes or worksheets into different languages.
-http://abcteach.com/directory/teaching_extras/general_formsnotes/
This free site also allows you to download and save the provided templates, but does not provide the ability to translate them.
Translate.google.com - Gabrielle Glenn
Overview: Google Translate is a website that offers free and instant translations between 58 different languages. It is able to translate words, phrases, and websites.
Advantages:
Free
Total of 58 languages
Can be used on websites
No login needed
Translation can be listened to
Able to see it phonetically
Disadvantages:
May not always be formatted correctly for the language needed
Technical Directions:
Once on the website you have to choose the language you are going to type in and then the language you need it to be translated into. The site then automatically translates it in the box next to the box you are typing in. Once completely written in the first box you can have it read out loud, or have it shown so that you can read it phonetically.
Uses in Elementary School Classroom:
This can be used in the elementary school classroom when there is an ELL student and other students want to talk to that student. This can help them have a conversation back and forth between them. This tool can also help teachers to write letters home to parents in another language so that all of the parents are informed with what is going on in the classroom. It can also be used for the teacher to talk to their students who are ELL and she is unable to understand what they are trying to say he/she can use the translator to interact with the student.
http://translation.kids.net.au/ Has many languages and is able to find the word needed based on spelling. Harder to do sentence translations and is unable to do websites.
Overview: Zamzar is a website to convert documents, images, videos, music, and etc to other formats. It is completely free and does not require any downloads. Users are able to upload files from their computer or take files from URL and convert them into other formats for free. You can convert:
What you Can Convert
-Document formats -Video formats
-image formats -e-book formats
-music formats -compressed formats
-CAD format
Advantages:
-basic version is free
-easy to use
-performs conversions on wide range of formats without having to download any software
-sends an email to you when conversions are done
-with subscription it offers online file management, and quicker queing and conversion
times, and personal inbox where you can store all converted files, ability to share with
friends
-can convert a file by email by attaching the file you want to convert to a new email or
forward an existing email and send email to format@zamzar.com
-can convert files from Iphone or Ipad
-can convert files directly from your email account without needing to use the Zamzar
website, also can use zamzar web brower button for web browser so it can convert files
from all your favorite websites at click of button
-allows you to stream converted videos and audio to your iphone, ipad and ipod
Disadvantages:
-email time often varies in time for 3 to 4 hrs to a couple days with free version
-some conversions may be corrupt or be reformatted
-not clear if your privacy is comprised and if Zamzar can claim intellectual rights over your material
-with free service converted files are only stored for 24 hr period or you will receive file download expired message
-with free option, only able to upload up to 100MB of data split between up to 5 different files, with subscription can upload up to 1GB in size, many videos are more than 100MB
split
Technical Directions: Steps to Convert
1. On home page select file or URL to convert
2. Choose the format to convert to
3. Enter your email address to receive converted files
4. Click convert
5. Click ok at the next pop up window
It may take a few hours for your notification email but when you do click on the link provided in the email to go to the download page, you only have 24hrs to download your file before it is deleted
6. Click Download Now and save the file to your computer
Hint: if saving from home you will need to copy the file onto a thumb drive or cd to bring to school and you should change the file name before clicking save to download
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -use to download and convert educational videos from Teacher Tube or You Tube to use in the classroom since often these sites are blocked by filters at school
-convert videos into audio, mp3 or other formats for listening versus watching, like a speech, or a story being read for a station or listening corner
-download sounds or videos to use in powerpoint or other presentation
-able to convert pdf files or files from mac to pc or vice versa if computers are not compatable
-able to use just song off a video for in class use
Similar Sites Movavi Online-free online video converter (unique feature allows you to select multiple downloaded videos and merge them into one long movie)
YouConvertIt-free online media converter(no download required, documents, images, audio, video and archives)
MediaConverter-free and paid online Audio and video converter(available in several languages)(just audio and video)
Media-Convert-online Media Converter(able to save up to 200MB)(video, images, documents, archives and sounds)
Overview: Voki is a tool for students and teachers. This website is easy to use and super fun. Voki is a website used to create avatars that the creator personalizes. The avatars speak anything that you type, upload, or record through a microphone or telephone. These avatars can be used for just fun as well as teaching. After creating the avatar, you can publish it to almost anything, such as websites, social networking, emails, etc. You can save the avatar for future use or create it for one use and then delete it. The website also provides embedded codes, etc. to make publishing simple and easy.
Advantages: Voki is really interesting and super fun to use.
For teachers:
It is a good tool to use in the classroom and provides many different options to use
“learning” page that has different links to help understand voki
o How it works
o Different lesson plans that incorporate voki avatars (teachers corner)
o A voki blog that explains developments, interviews, tips, etc.
o A voki newsletter that goes over everything above
For Students:
Motivate students to participate
Improve message comprehension
Introduce technology in a fun way
Can be an effective language tool
Disadvantages: There are not many disadvantages except if you do not purchase the “classroom”
Only 60 seconds of speech allowed per avatar, or text that fills the box (90 seconds with classroom)
No privacy settings (without classroom purchase)
Every student must register and teacher does not have all the students together unless they upload their avatar on a separate web page (may be difficult for elementary students)
No support unless purchase of classroom (unlimited email support) Not necessarily needed because the website is pretty simple
Technical Directions: This website is very simple to use. I will show you how to create, and if you need more help you can watch this video!
Go to voki.com
Click create or sign up (to keep voki)
Create and post
Uses in the classroom:
Create voki to introduce each student or they can create their own and say a blurb about themselves (older grades)
Create a voki to highlight important facts or parts from a story (teacher or student)
Students can practice small sentences in a different language (or English for ELL or young students with speech or writing problems) to see if the sentence sounds correct, or how to say certain sentences.
For example, a lesson on voki’s lesson plan page is; the teacher creates 5 vokis. During English class, when working on grammar and sentence structure, the teacher has each voki saying a sentence. 3 out of the 5 voki’s will say a sentence with correct grammar and structure, while 2 will be incorrect grammar and structure. Students must figure out which two voki’s are incorrect, explain why, and create a voki that relays the information of the message again, just correctly. This can be used as a formal assessment as well as a quiz or summative assessment.
Similar sites:www.sitepal.comà used more for businesses/ not classroom friendly
www.noahx.comàmore complicated and not as educational
Source: nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph Overview-
The purpose of nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph is to help the students make different graphs. The different types of graphs they can make are bar, line, area, pie, and xy.
Advantages-
Its free
You can pick between the five different graphs
In the middle or doing a graph you can change the graph to another one
Email your work to yourself or teacher
They walk you through the different steps on the side of the page
You can pick the different colors and different text you want in your graph
It gives you different example
If you lose a graph you can get them to email you a list of your saved graphs
Disadvantages-
If you email it to yourself it doesn’t say its sent
A little complex for younger students
I found it a little challenging to save your graph
Overview -
Prezi is an online presentation software. The creators refer to Prezi as a new form of whiteboards and slides. Prezi can make simple, informational presentations more interactive and appealing to an audience. The software allows editing and sharing of online presentations. People can comment on the presentations if they are made public by the user. The website offers a free account type referred to as a Basic license. Users can upgrade their accounts to enable more features with an annual fee. Teachers and students have the ability to obtain an Edu Enjoy license for free which enables privacy and support features. It is a useful tool for teachers and especially students to show and share information.
Advantages -
There are many advantages to using this website for presentations. The Basic account is free and requires a minimum amount of personal information. Users can log on using their email or a Facebook account. Teachers and students that have an email ending in edu can upgrade to an Enjoy account for free. The Enjoy license allows users more storage space, a privacy option, and technical support. Regular users can try the Enjoy and Pro license with no fee for 30 days. For people with an iPad, there is a Prezi app that can be downloaded onto your device.
The program allows users to insert text, frames, pictures, tables, video, shapes, PowerPoint slides, or files into the presentation. The editing tools are easy to understand and implement. The program automatically saves your presentation continuously. The website provides detailed instructions for how to use the software and a help button within the editing program. There is an option to share your Prezi with others through email and they can view or even edit the presentation. You can also export your presentation and save it on your computer to play offline.
Disadvantages -
There were some disadvantages that I found while using the software. Users can only have access to all of Prezi’s features with an annual fee. The fee for a Pro license is decreased for teachers and students, but it is still a significant cost. Users can edit their Prezi’s offline using Prezi Desktop, but only under the Pro license and cost. For Basic account users, all of the Prezi presentations they create are made public. There is a limit on storage space with each account package offered. If you use your email that you also use for your Facebook account, it will automatically connect with Facebook.
To use with a class of students, each student would need to create their own. If the students do not have edu email addresses than they will only be able to access the Basic account for free and their presentations will be public. To use Prezi with a classroom of students, the teacher of school may need to may for each account. There are discounts for multiple accounts, but it would still be a major cost.
In regards to the editing and creation of the Prezi presentation, there are some limitations. There are only five templates available to begin a project. These themes are not universal and need to be dramatically changed to fit the information being presented. The program also features some color and font schemes, but they are limited. The color scheme selected limits the color choices for some of the shapes that can be inserted, such as arrows.
Technical Directions -
1. Create an account using your email or Facebook account.
2. Once you are signed in, click “New Prezi.”
3. Enter a title and a description of your presentation and click the “New Prezi” button again.
4. Choose a template and click “Start Editing.”
5. Your new Prezi template will appear and you can begin editing.
6. Select any of the options in the upper left corner that you wish to add to your Prezi.
7. When clicking on anything in your presentation, this three ringed circle will appear. The outer circle will change you angle of the item, the next circle makes the item bigger or small by clicking the plus and minus symbols, and the inner circle will move the item.
8. After you have added everything you want into the Prezi, you should select path.
9. Click each item in your presentation in the order you want them to be seen in the presentation.
10. Click the button in the bottom right corner labeled “Show” to preview your completed Prezi.
11. You can then print, export, exit or watch your presentation.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
Prezi is a website that is great for educators and students. Teachers can use this to make classroom presentations and as a tool to communicate with parents. Educators could make a Prezi on any given topic and easily incorporate multimedia. Many teachers use emails to communicate with parents. They could put the information they are sending in emails into a Prezi presentation and then email the presentation to the parents. The teacher would be able to add notes, documents, pictures and more while using innovative and interactive technology.
Students can use Prezi for individual or group presentations. The sharing and meeting tools within Prezi make it easy to have multiply users work on the same presentation at once. They will also be able to work on their presentations on multiple computers at home or at school as long as they have an internet connection. Students could use Prezi for book reports, “all about me” or beginning of school presentations, multimedia projects, and specific research topics within any subject. For any project or assignment a student would normally use Microsoft PowerPoint to complete, they can substitute Prezi.
Similar Sites -
www.sliderocket.com - Similar free and priced account plans, less interactive and more parallel to Microsoft PowerPoint with slides and basic templates
http://www.empressr.com – not as user friendly, requires more personal information, and less interactive
Storybird
By: Joelle Martin
Overview:
Storybird is a service that allows for collaborative storytelling to connect kids and their families. It allows for two (or more) people to create a Storybird collaboratively, by each creating a page of the story in a round robin fashion. These stories can be shared publically or privately with whom you chose. The students can then read stories made by other students.
Advantages:
It is free and will always be free. Even for classroom set of thirty, there is no cost. The only expense is if the students want their stories in a hard copy, it costs about fourteen dollars to print.
Storybird allows for students to invite classmates to work on their story collaboratively.
Storybird is very easy to use and saves all of your stories in your account. This way you do not have to publish your stories and you can come back and edit them whenever you want.
Once a story is published, you can still go back and edit the story.
Safe for students because it is not a virtual world, so there is not chat engine built into Storybird. Also, Storybird does not create a profile page that reveals any information about the student. The student does not even have to use their real name or picture. The stories you create have privacy settings, so you can make sure you know who is seeing your stories.
Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence by having the students create stories.
Students can create a reading list of the books that they want to read.
Disadvantages:
There are limited artwork choices, so you can only use the artwork that they have on the site. You cannot upload your own pictures on Storybird. Also, there is a limited layout for the different way the pages can be arranged so it limits children’s creativity.
The only person that can delete a story is the one who created it.
Click on the “Create” tab and pick an artwork or theme that interests you.
Click the "Start a Storybird" button.
Drag artwork to the white canvas and add text to the page.
To invite others to collaborate on your story just hit the Menu button in the top right of the screen and select “Invite Someone.”
To publish your story hit the menu button again and select “Publish this Storybird.”
Uses in the Elementary School Classroom:
Students can work collaboratively on stories even with students that are not in their school. They can take turns each making a page to create a story.
Helps students understand sequencing and order in a story. Also can be useful for a lesson on learning about the beginning, middle, and end of a story.
When students are done early with their work they can read stories on Storybird or create their own stories to share.
Overview:
This basic idea of Animoto is that you can make beautiful digital videos using photos, video clips, as music. It is another teaching technique to incorporate technology into the classroom because has multiple different features. It is almost like a slideshow, but with many additional features. It takes three simple steps in order to complete a video. Animoto is similar to a scrapbook that you can easily share with others through today's technology.
Advantages:
- The videos are very easy to share. For example, you can easily send them through email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, or even through its very own Animoto application for the iPhone.
- It is easy to embed the videos with one simple link.
- Every video that you create can be unique and different from the previous one since there are many options.
- You can control the effects that are used.
- You can use any type of music you would like, and the Animoto website has thousands of licensed songs.
- The videos are high definition, which is perfect for creating DVD's.
- It is much easier to use than Powerpoint
- It automatically adds in transitions so that the video can be played smoothly.
- Quick and effortless to use
Disadvantages:
- The prices are a disadvantage
- Plus version is $30 a year or $5 dollars a month, which is not bad.
- Pro version is $249 a year or $39 a month.
- The free version has limited access to what effects are used and can only be up to 30 seconds.
Technical Direction:
1. First you will chose a background that you would like to use for your video.
2. On the left, there will be a toolbar with style, music, pictures, and text.
3. Choose the details that you would like.
4. Hit create video and there you go!
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
- Animoto is a good source of technology for the classroom.
- Students can create videos in a decent amount of time that bring lessons to life.
- Educators can apply for a free Animoto Plus.
- For any project, you can have students create an Animoto on what they have learned throughout whatever the current lesson being covered is. Since we are dealing with elementary students, this website is nice and easy for them. They simply just enter the information and the video creates itself. It will demonstrate how well they know certain concepts.
- It can be a great opener for new material.
Xtranormal.com By Christina Caporale Overview: Xtranormal is a website where you can create interactive cartoon videos with many different characters and settings. It allows you to create a story, share a story, and watch other people’s stories. This site can be in your classroom as well as for your business.
Advantages:
It is a simple to use program with many different features.
Able to be uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, email, or can be downloaded to a computer for later viewing, using the teacher platform.
A great way for students to get excited about a lesson.
Characters on this site are great for making lessons. Some of the characters include Napoleon and Aristotle to U.S. Presidents.
Each student is provided with a unique PIN number (Xtranormal refers to this as a Student Token) that gives them access to their class and their assignments. Assignments can then be used to assess if a student is truly grasping the concepts being taught in the classroom and/or identify any difficulties they may have.
In the educational platform there are many different forms of security for your students.
Securely controlled. Special tools allow you to create assignments, moderate, grade, and give feedback. All within the privacy of your class.
Disadvantages:
If kids are not using the educational platform, some of the videos shown are somewhat inappropriate.
There is still a cost to the website, no matter what way you use it.
It says there are a lot of options for downloading/uploading your videos, but it was very difficult to get everything to download and upload properly.
Costs: For one person- It is free to sign up but you need to buy “xtranormal points” to get new characters and scenery. You get 300 “Xtranormal points” when you sign up. For business- business plan- $50 per month Reseller plan- $75 per month Custom plan For education- 14 day free trial 10$ for teacher access per month, then .50 cents for per student per month.
Technical Directions:
Go to the create tab, and choose which set of characters you would like to use.
Choose your setting, actors (and what you would like their voice to sound like),and different sounds you would like to add.
Add your text. Drag and drop where you would like camera angles, sounds and movements to go.
You can now view your story,
Publish your story!
Uses in your classroom: This is a great website for students and teachers. As a teacher you can make your own lesson plan using Xtranormal, to make lessons more engaging. Language learning is easy, history becomes cool, and civics debates are fun. For students, it is a great way for them to get involved with what they are learning and use their creativity. For example, they can recreate moments in history, make their won written story come to life or even tell about their own experiences using fun characters.
Websites like Xtranormal: http://www.miivies.com/classics/index.php This site has a limited set of characters. It also isn’t geared toward teaching like the other sites.
http://digitalfilms.com/ This site is similar but the characters do not talk, and it is not as high of picture quality.
http://goanimate.com/ This site is also a good site for teachers; it starts at $8 per month. But this site doesn’t have as many characters you can use.
Teachersfirst.com
Jenna Kopf
Teachersfirst.com is a free, nonprofit website that allows teachers to search for resources to use in the classroom. You can find lessons, units, and other web resources. It allows teachers to organize the resources they find so that they can easily access them in their favorites instead of having to search again. This site also allows parents and students to have access to the resources.
Advantages:
Free
No membership needed, although a membership does allow you to organize the resources you like.
If you sign up for a membership, the resources are also available for students and parents
You can limit what resources you make public for the parents to see.
When you sign up you can choose the subjects you are interested in finding resources for
Home page has featured websites, Classroom planning calendar, popular resources
Gives resources within the lesson plan
No advertisements
Disadvantages:
A little hard to navigate
No way to search for specific lesson plans
The website has recently “moved” so some of the lesson plans can't be found
Asks for School District Information so as a college student it may be difficult to find out what school district to use.
I could not find how parents and students access my public page.
If you would like to create an account, click on the “Learn about the benefits of TeachersFirst Free Membership”
Scroll to the bottom and click on the “Sign up now” link
After filling out the information and signing up, login using your email and password
You can search for any topic in the search engine or you can click on the specific resource you're looking for along the top of the screen.
Uses in the Classroom:
Teachersfirst can be used in any classroom. As a teacher you can go to it to find well planned out lesson plans that already have powerpoints and other resources. You can easily add games to your favorites an during computer time have students go onto teachers first and play the games you already approved for them. You can also have the games be for homework or inform parents of the resources for a way for the children to get extra help at home. If you wanted to share a lesson plan that you are doing in the classroom with the parents, you can make it public for them to see. This could encourage parent involvement if you need help. Allowing the parent to see the lesson plan helps them see what they will be doing if they volunteer.
Example: **http://learningisfun1234.weebly.com/#/** Source: **http://education.weebly.com/** Overview:
Weebly is a site that allows you to make an easy, free website. It is a good tool for businesses to make a website and it is great for teachers for making class websites. It is very fun and simple to use.
Advantages:
-Free
-A fun, easy way to create a website
-Many templates to choose from
-Reliable cloud hosting
-Easy to manipulate with an undo and redo button
-Can collect assignments online
-Can do quick surveys
-Can be easily contacted by parents
-Class can be informed about activities going on by just looking online reducing papers sent home, promoting a green community
-Can password protect
-Can make student websites in bulk password protected or public
-Can edit anywhere
-Has spell check
-Easy to move boxes around
-Can choose from many different languages for the page such as English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, and many others.
-So many fun colors to choose from for text
-Uploading picture and video is simple
-Students can have their own password protected accounts too
Disadvantages:
-Not all of it is free, may trick you into purchasing a domain name when you are already given a link.
- If you want to password protect the site you must go pro. Going pro gives you 10 sites per account, unlimited pages per students’ individual websites, 100 MB file uploads, an audio player, a video player, and the ability to embed documents into the site. For pro it is $39.95.
-Can’t remove Weebly stamp at the bottom, unless switched to pro.
-When you change the theme all the text you fixed to be bigger or formatted changes back to the way it was.
- Need to go pro and pay in order to have student pages
Technical Directions:
First you come to the weebly home page:
It is easy to sign up. Once you have decided on a name and password it will ask you for your school name, district, and where you are. I put Millersville for mine. Then you will come to the main page where you can play around with text, pictures, boxes, and themes easily by clicking and dragging. When you have everything the way you would like it, you can publish the site. Your site is the blue hyperlink, everything else cost money, so stick with that. Now your students and parents have a classroom page to use anywhere there is internet.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom:
You can use it for informational use, such as a class website. You can use it to collect and announce due dates of assignments, allow parents to get all information so it isn’t lost in book bags, and can even use it as a reward if you put games on it.
Overview: WordPress is a free online blog where you are able to share your thoughts and ideas in a way that others can see, or just for your own personal use. It is also a place to go and be a part of other blogs by reading them or following them.
Advantages:
It is free (up to 3GB)
You are able to limit how public your posts go (public or private)
Are able to import a blog from another space into WordPress
Over 50 different languages
Continuously saves your posts
There are over 100 free themes that give you the entire layout before you have to apply it to your blog
You can tag your posts giving them different themes- this helps you search your own blogs as well as other blogs that would all have a similar theme
You are able to leave your blog at any time and the blog is not locked in, you have to first publish it
There are different apps that can be downloaded to other devices
Disadvantages:
There is an upgrade available for a price of $99/yr when you first sign up, or different price packages depending what you want to add to your blog (more space 10GB, more designs, Advertisement free etc)
There may be a few advertisements that pop up
It can be a bit tricky to maneuver about the site to learn all that it has to offer
Technical Directions:
Sign up and log in
You will then need to click on a theme, and go through the guide of setting up the basics to your blog
There are bars across the top to guide you with what you want to do (New Post, Reader, Freshly Pressed, Topics, My Blog, My Stats)
When you want to post a new blog click on new post
Then there will be different options as to what you would like to add to your post such as a link, movie, picture, text and other things.
Uses in classroom:
You could have a class blog where you would give the students different topics to write about online, and have them respond. They are able to join your blog as another user or they could sign in under one name.
It could also be used as a journal for students. There are privacy settings that can be placed on these blog
Similar Sites:
www.blogger.com -This is the google version of a blog, and would be more of a simpler yet similar site. It is also free. http://penzu.com/ -This is an online Journal or diary. Set up to look like notebook paper. Also free.
Blabberize by Stephanie Latschar Got a picture? Blabberize it! Source:blabberize.com
Overview: Blabberize is a website that allows you to bring a picture to life by literally making it talk. This website allows users combine a picture or pictures with audio to create scenes that can stand alone or be combined to make a multi-scene production. Blabberize is fun and extremely easy to use. Although Blabberize is not specifically designed to be an educational tool, this website has many applications in the elementary classroom.
Advantages:
Blabberize is completely free!!
You need to provide an email to sign up, but this email is never displayed on the website.
The website is easy to use and easy to navigate.
There is a cropping feature, which allows you to select exactly which part of a photo you want to use.
You can add more than one mouth to a picture, which allows for a large variety of pictures to be used.
Audio can be recorded using your computer microphone or you can add up to 30 seconds of audio that you have previously recorded.
You can preview your “blabber” before you complete it.
You can add multiple scenes to the same production, which creates the feel of a movie.
Your “blabbers” can be saved if you sign in with a username and password.
There are options to mark your video as private or mature.
As a user, you can flag objectionable content that you may come across.
Your “blabbers” are extremely easy to share using the URL, embed code, or a post to Facebook and other social media websites.
Examples made by other people are accessible on the website.
Disadvantages:
Because this website is free, there are advertisements displayed.
The overall website leaves something to be desired. For example, there are some dead links on the site, the introduction video is not necessarily something that you would want to use in the classroom, and there are blog posts on the homepage that are not always related or relevant to the website.
You can only upload pictures that are saved on your computer. There is no option to choose pictures from the Internet. (Internet photos would have to first be saved to your computer in order to be used)
The call in audio feature has been removed and does not work.
There is not filter of onsite content, so students may be able to access some material that is not appropriate.
Based on reviews of the website, blabberize.com is a work in progress, therefore some features that may not be working yet or are unreliable at this time, such as the video conversion feature which is temporarily free but may require you to download other programs onto your computer.
There is no feature for teachers to create a class or see what their students are doing on Blabberize, without accessing each student’s specific account.
Technical Directions:
Log in using your username and password.
Choose the "make" option.
Select a picture and crop it.
Position the mouth or mouths on your picture where you want them and the shape in which you want them.
Add audio to your picture.
Preview your blabber.
Add more scenes or edit the scene you just made.
Save your blabber (create a title, description, and tags).
Share your blabber!!
Uses in the Elementary Classroom: -Students could make a “blabber” to introduce themselves to the class at the beginning of the school year. -Students could make a “blabber” to present research they conducted on a historical figure or famous person. -“Blabbers” can be created of plants or animals to present information that was researched. -The teacher could create a “blabber” to give instructions to the class. -Students can read a favorite picture book, and illustrate pictures to be created into a Blabberize movie of the story. There are many interesting educational uses for blabberize.com online. I would encourage everyone to check them out!!
Similar Sites:
goanimate.com: This website is very similar to blabberize.com but it is not as simple to use and would require more instructions to younger students. There are more advanced options on this site.
bubblesnaps.com: This website allows your pictures to talk, but uses speech bubbles instead of actually adding audio to the pictures. This site would not be as fun for students to use in the classroom and does not allow as many different ways to share your creation as Blabberize does.
voki.com: This website is similar to blabberize.com because you can use your own voice to create the audio, but instead of using a picture, you create an avatar on this site.
Speakaboos is a site that brings classic children's entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through illustrations and original music. Children develop literacy skills in a safe and fun environment. Speakaboos' stories fall into five main genres: Fables, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Nursery Rhymes, and Songs. Speakaboos partners with some of today's celebrities to have them record children's stories for the website. Subscription costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.
Advantages -
The site is easy to use and is colorful.
There is a free membership that gives limited access to the content.
The site offers stories, songs, games, and printable worksheets.
The worksheets include lesson plans, arts and crafts, interactive coloring pages, and flash cards.
There is a seperate page for parents and teachers with access to lesson plans, worksheets, and a blog where they can all share ideas.
There are bulk plans offered for schools and libraries.
If a bulk plan is made, there is a seperate login for students.
Stories incorporate more complex words to extend childrens' vocabulary.
Beneath many videos, there is related content to help with comprehension.
Both stories that are new and stories that are well known are read. There are many to choose from.
The search bar only searches content on the Speakaboos website.
The beta site is very child friendly and easy to navigate. When you scroll over a link, the titles are read outloud to the user.
There are stories offered in Spanish.
Users can browse by themes.
Disadvantages -
While watching some stories, they would have to stop and load or the sound would completely stop.
In order to find out the prices for bulk plans, teachers must contact speakaboos and give them the specifics of their class.
The recording feature is advertised but not yet release. In this, anyone holding a free membership or paid subscription can record their own stories.
Some of the narrators could be more enthusiastic about the story.
While the beta site would be great for children, it does not yet have options for educators or parents to go for additional resources such as worksheets, games, or lesson plans.
The subscription plans that offer access to everything cost money.
Without creating a free or paid membership, the user can only watch 25 stories.
It is difficult to find the application for the free membership. Here is the direct link to sign up for the free membership: www.speakaboos.com/signup/Free
Stories are currently unavailable for download. You have to purchase stories from iTunes if you want to listen on the go.
Technical Directions-
Login after you have signed up for a membership.
Choose from any of the multiple categories, browse for a story by theme, or use the search bar for more specific inquiries.
The link for teachers and parents is towards the bottom of the page if this is needed.
Listen, watch, and enjoy a story.
After a story is finished, click on available comprehension boosters below the video.
If you chose a game from the home page or after the video, instructions are provided when the user clicks on which game they want to play.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
Speakaboos has many uses in the class. Teachers could use this during reading center time or they could have a student read the actual story in a book and then go on the website and play the games or do the comprehension activities. There are specific lesson plans on the site made just for certain stories that can be used. Speakaboos could also be a fun homework assignment that parents could be involved with. The bedtime stories could even be used at naptime in the lower grades that still take naps or have quiet time. In addition to doing extras pertaining to certain stories, students can just go to the printable section for fun or for extra reinforcement and practice their alphabet, do arts and crafts, print coloring pages, do puzzles, take quizzes using just prior knowledge, practice rhyming, or practice spelling. There is a great array of possibilities for using Speakaboos in the elementary classroom.
Similar Sites storylineonline.netThe stories here are also read by celebrities, but it does not offer nearly as many book choices or additional content. candlelightstories.comThis site is aimed more towards adults so it is not as child friendly. They take submissions from outside writers and illustrators. storynory.com These free audio stories are read by actors and a new one is published every week. There are ads and no extra activities.
Bitstrips - Gabrielle Larson
Overview: Bitstrips is a website that allows users to create their own comics. This website
combines premade characters, sets and props with their individual creativity. Advantages:
Users have the ability to create up to six comic panels or one large scene with lots of details
Some of the premade characters resemble famous people; such as George Bush or Barak Obama
Users have the ability to alter the positions of the characters they use – from standing to sitting or in mid-run
Once you set up an account, you can regulate the privacy settings on you individual comic strips (public or private)
The site allows teachers to set up a classroom account. With a simple classroom code, students can search for their teacher’s account. With this individual account, teachers can add students to their account and regulate the comics they make.
Characters, props, and sets are organized alphabetically
You can look for “props” using a search bar
Certain items are delete-able from a premade scene
They are currently hosting a “Stop Bullying” campaign
When you insert a conversation bubble, the font is similar to what you would see in a newspaper comic, so it allow students to feel as if they are making a genuine comic that is ready for publication
Disadvantages:
The site does not allow the illustrator to alter the background in terms of color or size.
For the education portion of the site, after the 1 month free trial, the website begins to charge
$9.95 per month for the first classroom
$4.95 per additional classroom (1 classroom = 40 students)
If enrolling by district, the price is approximately $1.50 per student per year (minimum of 200 students)
Some of the arrows can be difficult to understand or cue
If you wish to edit a completed bitstrip, after your resave, it does not delete the old version of the comic
For free usage, click the Daily Funnies Starring YOU! option
To begin an un-saveable bitstrip, click the Comic option under the Create heading
The default setting for a bitstrip is three panels; to change this select the Layout option at the top of the screen
You can use the different heading to create your bitstrip, simply click the desired character, scene, or prop from the bar at the top and drag it down to the preferred panel
After you have designed the bitstrip to your liking, you can add speech bubbles or caption boxes to the comic to fully covey your idea
Under the Controls heading, if a character is selected, you can alter their facial expression, the size and shape of their pupils, and their body position
In order to complete production of you bitstrip, you must give your comic a name.
If you wish to save your comic, you can sign up or log in; there is also an option to link your account with Bitstrips to your Facebook.
After you save, you can decide if you want to publish your bitstrip for public viewing or keep it private
Uses in the Classroom:
There are several ways that you can use this website in a classroom. For example,
“Historical Guess Who Game”
“How To” Guide to illustrate a companion writing piece
an alternative book report
Because some former politicians are included in the Character Gallery, you can ask the students to illustrate an important moment in history
Tech Tip Home Page
Directions -
Your "digital handout" must be completed BEFORE you present your tech tip. The "digital handout" is NOT a replacement for your presentation. Rather, it is a supplement to your presentation. The "digital handout" is a resource that students can visit to review the basic function of the tool, to learn MORE about the tool, and to see interesting ways to use the tool in a classroom. Your job is to create a "digital handout" that accomplishes all of those goals. The best way to describe the "digital handout" is to show you an exemplar of what is expected. Please read the wikispaces entry found below carefully. You will be expected to follow the format (use the listed headings in your entry).Wikispaces - by Nanette Dietrich
Source -www.wikispaces.com
Overview -
A wiki is a webpage that has multiple authors. Think of it as an Online Bulletin Board where people can visit and leave content. Wiki's can be open to everyone like the site wikipedia.org or you can make the membership exclusive and restrict who can see and who can edit the webpage. In the classroom, wiki's can be used as a safe online gathering spot. Students can use a class wiki to share ideas, display their writing, or engage in a conversation. The power of a wiki is best seen when STUDENTS are editors. So resist the urge to use a wiki only as a space for the teacher to "talk" to students or post assignments.Advantages -(Why is this tool better than other choices?)
For teachers, a wiki can be a better choice than facebook or other social media sites because teachers serve as the administrator and can monitor and see EVERYTHING that has been posted to the wiki even if the content has been deleted. (This is particularly important with the pervasive problem of "cyber bullying"). The teacher serves as the site administrator and can control the site's content by monitoring changes to the site. Wikispaces will even send the teacher emails every time a student makes a change to the site. The site has a clean navigation and is easy to use. A wiki makes it easy to share text, files, links and multimedia. Using the "widget" feature, students can add videos, slideshows, polls, bookmarks and a myriad of other content to the wiki. If you plan to ask students to write a paper, consider implementing a wiki page instead and embrace the opportunities afforded by the addition of multimedia. PS - Did I mention that creating your own wiki is FREE?
Disadvantages -
I wish I could say a wiki is perfect but sadly that is not the case. Below is a list of the flaws I discovered when using wikispaces.
Technical Directions-
My favorite explanation of a wiki comes from a site called common craft. Common Craft posts their videos on YouTube but does not publish an embed code. (If you want the embed code you have to pay them!) So if you want to view the video, you will need to visit the following site http://youtu.be/-dnL00TdmLY
You will need a free wikispaces account in order to create your own wiki. In class, we use wikispaces.com but K-12 teachers have a better option at wikispaces for educators. This wikispaces option allows teachers to create truly private/protected wikispaces.
Click on the above link and you will see the following dialog box.
Completing the above form is all you need to get started.
For more detailed information visit http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/
Uses in the Secondary Classroom -
Too often wikis are used by teachers as a "glorified PowerPoint" where the goal of the site is for the teacher to present info to students. This type of direct instruction is not the best use of a wiki if your goal is to empower students to take charge of their own learning process. In order for a wiki to support the goals of 21st century learning, students must be the "creators" of the wiki content. Viewing the wiki should provide teachers with a glimpse into the students' thinking processes. When searching for good examples of classroom wikis, I found many sites that supported direct instruction like http://105.wikispaces.com/Running+For+President . In fact it was hard to find a "good" example of a classroom wiki. I did however find a few examples and my favorite comes from a 2nd grade classroom http://mrsanderson10.pbworks.com/w/page/33263525/FrontPage
Another great example comes from an AP English Classroom.
Similar Sites
wikidot.com This tool is really much more than a wiki and is more like a D2L course management tool. The site's goal seems to be to encourage you to purchase their premium site. It doesn't provide the FREE privacy tools that wiki site for educators includes.
pbworks.com This is a really good tool that also has a free teacher version. (The site does promote the purchase of a premium edition but the basic addition offers a lot). The features are similar to wikispaces but the platform is more visually appealing.
Good Luck Using Wiki's in your future classroom!
Wordle - Ruth Costanzo
Source: http://www.wordle.net/
Overview-
Wordle is a website that allows you to make word clouds from text that you can type or paste into the box provided. Wordle is free and available to anyone looking to use it. You can make word clounds for yourself and print them out or you can publish them for Wordle users to see. Wordle is a fun and useful ways to do neat activities in the classroom and keep students involved.
Advantages-
Wordle is fun and easy to use. A very nice part about Wordle is that you do not need an account to make or publish a word cloud! The site is easy to navigate and it does not take much to figure out how to make your own word cloud. It is nice that there are some clouds available for you to view and spark your creativity. Kids love doing classroom activities that involve computers and this is a perfect thing to do a quick and easy lesson with your students. Wordle gives the students a chance to be creative with the word layout, color, and font of their word cloud. There are many different layouts, colors and fonts to choose from. Once you create your very own word cloud you can print it out and hang it for your friends to see or even publish it for the entire World Wide Web to see!!
Disadvantages-
I did not find many disadvantages, but one important thing that I did find was that before you let your students use Wordle you need to have these three sights blocked before using so they do not discover any inappropriate materials.
- http://www.wordle.net/gallery
- http://www.wordle.net/next
- http://www.wordle.net/random
Another aspect I did not like was that if I typed in a list of words instead of copying a chunk of text, I couldn’t go back and add or edit any of the words in the list. You can easily fix that my copying your list of words to a word document before hitting the go button but sometimes I did not think of a word I wanted to use until the word cloud was already made and I had not copied the words.Technical Directions-
I found a website that gave clear and simple directions on how to use Wordle, which I will post here: How to use Wordle.
It is so simple to use that I won’t show the video in class, and will instead quickly show you how simple it is to use.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom-
Wordle can be a fun and helpful activity to use in an elementary classroom. I thought of a couple activities you can use a word cloud for. My first idea was for a higher elementary grade when students are learning main ideas in writing. The students can paste a paragraph into the word box and then hit go. This will be helpful when working on main points in writing. The main point of the students paragraph should be evident in the word cloud because the words that appear the largest are the ones that appear the most often in the students paragraph. Students can share their word clouds with the class and have other student’s make inferences on what they think the main idea of other students paragraphs are. I also thought it was a fun way to work on the parts of speech and have students make different word clouds for nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. In the video in the link above, I came across two ideas I had not thought of. The video suggests that you can use the word clouds with younger students and work with initial word sounds and letters asking students to find a word that begins with a certain letter or sound. The second idea that I found from the video was that you could use the word cloud as a word bank when practicing definitions. For example you can say a definition of a word and ask the students to identify it in the word cloud.
Similar sites-
http://www.tagxedo.com/ This is just like Wordle, only you can put your word clouds on t-shirts, bags, coffee mugs or really anything you can think of. You can also configure your word clouds into different shapes and pictures. It is more difficult to use than Wordle.
My Example
Typewith.me - KristyKupinewicz
Source: willyou.typewith.me
Overview-
Typewith.me is a website that allows you to create your own document and work on it collaboratively with others. It includes all the basic editing tools such as bold, underline, bullets, alignment options and undo/redo. You can even go back in time and see how the discussion developed. It is super easy to use and great for children and adults.
Advantages-
- Groups can work collaborative together without actually being together.
- There is a time slider option which allows you to see how the conversation developed and go back to parts you would like.
- It is extremely easy to use. If you know how to type on a computer you can pretty much figure this site out.
- It is free to use and you do not need to register with the site in order to create one.
- The document can be exported into word or a variety of other sources.
- You can invite people to the site via email.
Disadvantages-Technical Directions-
Once you go to the site, there is a button that says New Pad which you can click, or you can name your document underneath in the box that says create/open document with the name.
After you create a pad, you want to use the url to invite friends to work on the project with you.
You can then click on the little person button at the top and type your name so that everyone will know what color you are while you are typing.
All of the basic editing tools are at the top of the screen for you to use while you are typing.
If you click on the clock button, the time line application will come up,and you are able to go back in time and look at how the document came to be how it is at the moment.
There is also a button at the top with two arrows which allows you to import or export a document from another place.
Lastly, the is a chat feature at the bottom of the screen so that you may have a conversation with your peers as you write together.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom-
Similar sites- all of these sites are almost the exact same. They are all super easy to use, they just have different names.
VoiceThread.com: Nicole Guy
Source: http://voicethread.com/
Overview: VoiceThread is one way to share and collect group conversations. You can create a multimedia slide show which other users can go through and leave comments in various forms. Comments can be left as text, an audio file, a video, or through voice. VoiceThread can then be shared with anyone. You can also draw on the slides while commenting and pick and choose the comments you would like to hear. Videos can also be exported to play on MP3 players or DVDs. (http://voicethread.com/about/features/)
Advantages:
Disadvantages
Technical Directions
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
Similar Sites
Rubistar
By: Kerri Humbert
Rubistar- Teacher Rubrics made easy!Rubistar
Overview- Rubistar is a rubric making tool for teachers. It offers a format for easy creation and it allows it to be saved, edited, and reviewed online. It also allows for educators to see overall success on a given project
Technical Directions:
Advantages:
- Templates are available with all parts and able to edit
- You can create your own rubric from scratch
- Rubrics can be printed, downloaded or saved for future use
- Parents may view rubric by looking up teacher on rubistar
- Teachers can see overall class success by typing in results
Disadvantages:- Making own rubrics is a little confusing and a tutorial is not available for that process.
Use in an elementary school/ Special education classroom:[[http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/ ]]
Bubbl - Faith Carter
Source: www.bubbl.us
Overview
Bubbl.us is a website that allows you to create, save and print concept maps. This website can be used for virtually any subject. It also has a feature that allows you to share your maps with friends.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Technical Directions
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
Similar Sites
Mind42.com – This site allows you to add images and links to your concept maps. You can also attach notes.
Spiderscribe.net – With this site, you can collaborate with others to work on the same concept map at the same time.
Wisdomap.com - This site is helpful for both teachers (to make lesson plans) and students (to create presentations and the like).
Spelling City- by Kayla Stauffer
Source- www.spellingcity.com
Overview-
Spelling City is a website where students can practice their spelling word lists in a fun, interactive, and entertaining way. Teachers create the spelling list and students are able to access the website and the teacher’s list of words from any computer with Internet access. Students can take a spelling test, play games, or be taught the words letter by letter. This is a great tool especially for students whose parents do not take the time to go over the spelling words with the student at home. The student can practice the words by themselves and have fun doing it!
Try it For Yourself-
Advantages -
Disadvantages -
Technical Directions-
Spelling City is student and teacher friendly and provides step-to-step videos on how to navigate the site and use the tools. This video demonstrates how to save teacher spelling lists for students to access.
You will need a free teacher account to save your spelling lists. You can navigate the site and play games using spelling words you personally put in without an account.
You can also go to this link and find a SpellingCity Training Video for almost every feature on the website.
http://www.spellingcity.com/how-to-videos.html
Uses in the Early Childhood Classroom-
As early childhood educators, we need creative ideas for the students to have fun while learning. Spellingcity.com allows children to work with the specific words you need them to know from any place at any time. I see this site being the most beneficial if the student uses it at home. Because the student can access the teacher’s spelling list from any computer with Internet, the student can practice his/her spelling words at home. I have personally seen the negative affects from a lack of parent involvement in a student’s ability to do well on a spelling test. This site allows students to get help with their spelling words without being dependent on a parent. Using this site as part of a student’s homework will encourage a student to learn while engaging in creative and fun online activities. As a teacher, you can also print out spelling worksheets from spellingcity.com and have the students work on them if they have free time or complete an assignment before other students.
Similar Sites
http://www.bigiqkids.com -Big IQ Kids.com has almost identical options as spellingcity.com. The website allows students to access teacher’s spelling lists and test and play games with the words. This website does allow teachers to gather data, progress track, and print lessons as part of the free membership. The display is not as kid friendly or inviting as spellingcity.com.
http://www.kidsspell.com/- This site also has the opportunity to upload spelling lists and involve the children in playing games. However, the graphics and games are of a lower quality, and the site is not as easy to manuver as spellingcity.com. They also have a lot of advertisements and distractions for kids.
starfall.com
By: Alicia Huber
Source: starfall.com
Starfall.com- Alicia Huber
Overview: Starfall.com is “a free public service to teach children to read with phonics.” (Starfall.com) It has little “books” that help them read based on a certain sound, ending, or letter. The books are animated to help with the student’s understanding.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
- First go to the site http://www.starfall.com/
- Once you are there, you can choose what you want to do. You can either go to the ABCs or 3 different reading stages.
- Once you click on one of those, there are lists of stories you can choose to read or letters to learn about.
Use in an elementary school classroom:- You could have the site be part of centers.
- If students get work done early, they could have the opportunity to go to the site.
- When they have free time, the site could be available.
- If you pay for the membership, you could use the resources in the Teacher’s Lounge in your lessons.
Similar Sites:Brainpop.com- Hayley Helmich
Source: www.brainpop.com
Overview
Brainpop.com is an educational website with games and short videos covering all topics within the curriculum from grades K-12. BrainPOP primarily deals with grades 4-12 with BrainPOP jr. for K-3
Advantages
Disadvantages
Technical Directions
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
Similar Sites
http://www.kidsknowit.com- This site has educational games, activities, comics, music and videos. But it is not completed yet and has advertisements
http://www.neok12.com/games - Educational lessons, games, and videos for K-12 kids
http://funbrain.com – Educational games, activities, and readings for kids
Tumble Books – By Carolyn Metz
Source- __www.**tumblebooks**.com__/
Overview - Tumble books library is a website that has a collection of tumble books, activities, and teaching tools. Tumble books are an electronic picture book. These books have sound, music, animation, and narration. Tumble books are a new and fun way to read books in the classroom and at home.
Advantages - This site is easy to navigate and use. There is no limit on the amount of students that can be logged on to the subscription. This allows the children to work independently on the site or can work as a whole class. A person can try the site out for 30 days before they need to buy a subscription. The site offers a 10% discounts, if more then one school in the district has a subscription. A person can search for a particular type of book by reading level, grade, subject, author, and more. Before you pick the book you can see how long it takes to read, and reviews. Besides books the site has learning games, quizzes, lesson plans and a tool that helps outline a book report. When a sentence in the book is being read, the sentence is highlighted. Also, the site has language learning books.
Disadvantages-
Technical Directions - Tumble books website has a video called tumble tour, which shows how to use the site. I’ve included the link to the video. http://www.tumblebooks.com/LibraryTour.html
Uses in Elementary Classroom-
Similar Sites-
**http://www.onemorestory.com**/ This site is about just as expensive but there is no free trial and not as many books.
**http://storylineonline.net**/ This site is free and has celebrities voices that read to you. The site only has 24 books and the videos are of celebrities reading and only show quick clips of the pictures in the books.
Glogster - by Hillary Schwartz
Source - Edu.glogster.com
Overview- edu.glogster.com states that Glogster is “a collaborative online learning platform for teachers and students to express their creativity, knowledge, ideas and skills in the classroom.” It is a way for students and teachers to create posters and displays virtually. It includes the use of pictures, graphics, sounds, texts, drawings, videos, and backgrounds.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Technical Directions-
You do not need to create an account to make your glog, but to save it for further use you must create an account. A regular account is free, but you can pay for an upgraded account. The “light” version is $29.95/ year. There are different types of accounts your school can buy that can go all the way up to $4,875/year for 2,500 students. To start, choose “create new glog.” On the left is a list of the options you have for your glog. The “wall” option has tons of backgrounds to choose from. The “draw” button allows you to use a pencil and write on your bored. Each button is pretty self-explanatory. You can add media from your computer in the image, sound, video and data options. You can also add all of those things from web locations. Once media is placed onto the board you can move them around, resize them, and even send them behind or in front of another picture. The simplicity of glogster is perfect for the elementary education classroom because students will be able to navigate it easily.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
I would use this project as either a formative or summative assessment. If you are in the process of learning a certain topic it would be a great way for students to organize what they have learned, and display it for you. It would also be useful to have the student create a glog to go along with a report they are making. If a child is doing an oral report they can have their glog up on the screen to reference to. As technology becomes more of a necessity, students need to learn how to use basic computer skills. Instead of just doing a paper poster, this gives the students a great opportunity to start playing around and experimenting with technology.
Similar Sites
http://prezi.com/ This website is similar, but it allows you to do more technical things. It’s a little more advanced, and it is a lot like a PowerPoint.
http://poster.4teachers.org/index.php This website is very similar, but it is free. There are not as many tools available on this website.
Storyboard- Jackie Stipe
Source-
http://storylineonline.net/
Overview- This website allows you to choose a story and have it read to you by a member of the screen actors’ program. 5 popular stories are shown on the home page but there are many more you can access. There are also features that allow you to buy the books, get a newsletter and view comments. You can also make a donation or see the index of all the books.
Advantages-
Disadvantages-
Technical directions-
Go to the URL above. Choose a book to be read to you. Once you pick a book you choose what type of internet connection you are using. You can choose whether the captions are on or off on the right. You can see the words along the bottom if you choose and can pause the book at any time. The pictures are also shown as the reader reads. When the book is finished you are asked if you enjoyed it or not and can take a short survey. There are also related activities including questions and other things you can do with the book. You also have the option of printing out the activity guide.
Uses in the elementary classroom-
I would use this as an assignment when the children are finished early or as a homework assignment and have some questions for their follow up. If I were to use this with a lesson I would use it in a kindergarten classroom. The kids could pick their favorite books or we could listen to one as a class and have a discussion about it. If the students are struggling or ahead other students this could be an extra activity for them or a huge helper.
Similar sites-
http://www.speakaboos.com/
http://www.tumblebooks.com/
Scrapblog.com - Pamela Rieder
Overview – Scrapblog is an online source to create scrapbooks, calendars, books and other items. It’s a platform to create the things online and share them via the internet or have them printed into a hard copy. You can also publish it online for others to view. You use your own personal pictures on the site to personalize your projects.
Advantages – This site is fairly easy to use. There are many different layouts, stickers, themes and other things to use in your projects. Another advantage is that the account itself is free to sign up, and you can use either an email or your Facebook account. There is no limit that I could see to how many projects you could have saved to your account which was very nice so that you never have to worry about reaching a certain amount and having to delete them. With the themes that they give you, you can use them as is or rearrange them for your liking.
Disadvantages-
Technical Directions –
Uses in Elementary Classroom-
There are a few uses in an Elementary classroom. The first would be from teacher to student. A teacher could use this to create a ‘get to know you’ page for each student. They could also create books or calendars personalized to the classroom’s needs. Students could also use this in many ways. They could create a ‘family’ calendar with family birthdays and holidays, along with family pictures. They could also make a scrapbook about a historical figure.
Similar Sites:
www.mixbook.com
www.smilebox.com
Pixton - Allyson Ferraro
Source: http://www.pixton.com
Overview:
Pixton is a great website to help students with all the distractions of technology and give them a way to express themselves through comics. It includes many different features such as flexible characters with expression, can add text and speech bubbles, and create reusable backgrounds, and upload sound that help in creating a unique comic.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
Uses in the Elementary Classroom:
- Able to use on interactive white boards
- A great way for children to create their own story lines with pictures and dialogue.
- Rubric outlines available for teachers if they want to grade their students on their comic.
Similar Sites:Quintura for Kids-Bernadette Walsh
Source: quinturakids.com
Overview: In 2006, this online search engine was launched after being designed specifically for children. It uses key words and visual icons to help kids search the web safely with a content filter. Quintura is a very useful research tool that can be used to find safe and accurate information for students, teachers, and parents.
Advantages:
-It’s absolutely free!
-It is very easy to use and even includes a quick tour of the website.
-There is an app available through itunes, which can be used on an iPad or iPod, and it only costs $2.99.
-You can search for information, games, or pictures.
-Categories/topics are already chosen for you. These are narrowed down as you continue your search.
-The results bold the key words and include the number of documents found.
-The results are based off another search engine for kids, Yahoo!kids, so the information comes from reliable sources.
-The arrows can be used to go back to a previous search or skip forward to one already done.
-It gives students ideas of what to search for and they can choose topics they are interested in.
-Because of the content filter, kids are protected from unwanted or inappropriate websites that are often found on other search engines.
-The bold type and colorful images make the website kid-friendly.
Disadvantages:
-The website offers only a few different topics to choose from.
-You are very limited to what you can search for. Some topics or people may not show up in the results.
Technical Directions:-
-Once on the website, you can start your own search by clicking in the search bar and typing in the subject you are looking for, then click “find.”
-When the results show up, read the description below the link to find a website that you think looks interesting.
-You can also search by clicking on a topic included in the key word cloud or click on an animated icon that represents a certain subject.
-To narrow your search, keep clicking on key words and ideas given in the cloud above the search bar.
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
-It’s a safe and reliable search engine to use while doing a research project or even if students are simply interested in learning more about a certain topic.
-Because it can be easily accessed through the internet, it can be used on a school computer and also at home.
-It can be used to find fun games and activities that can be played in the classroom.
Similar Sites:-All of these are kid-friendly search engines that are easy to use and help students search the web.
http://kids.yahoo.com
askkids.com
Casanotes4teachers- Kristen Keaser
Overview:
-Casanotes4teachers is a very simple site to use to send important notes home to parents or awards to students. The site allows the teacher to use pre-made templates and insert customized information as well as color and graphics control. There are 12 templates that teachers can choose from including things like a field trip permission form, parent-teacher conference letters, medication forms, and a student-citizenship award. A helpful feature to the site is that the teacher has the option to print the note in English or in Spanish.
Advantages:
-It allows the teacher to easily communicate with parents
-It breaks the barrier between English speaking teachers and Spanish speaking parents
-It is easy to use
-A note can be created quickly so it saves valuable time
-Notes can be saved on the computer for future use
-It does all the work for you
-It is free (no money or username is required)
-You could also copy and paste your completed note into a word document and save it for the future or even email it to the parents if the student is not reliable to bring the important notes home.
Disadvantages:
-You can only use the premade templates
-The only language that you can translate the note to is Spanish
-You are limited in the amount of customizing that you can do
-Sometimes the website does not allow you to copy and paste your completed work, depending on the graphics included in the note. In this case, your only option is to print your completed note directly from the website.
Technical Directions:
-Go to casanotes4teachers.org
-Choose one of the 12 note templates that you would like to use
-Choose the title color and hit continue
-Choose the background color and text color and click next step
-Your note is finished and ready to print or save to your computer
-If you want to translate it to Spanish, click “Spanish version” in bottom, right corner
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
-This is more useful for the teacher as opposed to the students like the other tech tips have been. These notes can really benefit an elementary school teacher because they will not need to spend hours creating various different documents for each situation. The templates on the site can be used as an easy reward for students or as an easy way to communicate to parents. Things like the progress report and homework can be used on a weekly basis to help with organization and to track a child’s progress. Outstanding Performance, Well Done, On Target, and Student Citizenship Award can be used less frequently and only for special occasions.
Similar Sites:
-http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/index.shtml#backToSchool
This free site allows you to download, save, and edit the templates that are provided. It includes back to school information templates, award templates, parent-teacher communication templates, and many worksheet and graphic organizer templates as well. The site, however, does not provide a way to translate the notes or worksheets into different languages.
-http://abcteach.com/directory/teaching_extras/general_formsnotes/
This free site also allows you to download and save the provided templates, but does not provide the ability to translate them.
Translate.google.com - Gabrielle Glenn
Overview: Google Translate is a website that offers free and instant translations between 58 different languages. It is able to translate words, phrases, and websites.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
Once on the website you have to choose the language you are going to type in and then the language you need it to be translated into. The site then automatically translates it in the box next to the box you are typing in. Once completely written in the first box you can have it read out loud, or have it shown so that you can read it phonetically.
Uses in Elementary School Classroom:
This can be used in the elementary school classroom when there is an ELL student and other students want to talk to that student. This can help them have a conversation back and forth between them. This tool can also help teachers to write letters home to parents in another language so that all of the parents are informed with what is going on in the classroom. It can also be used for the teacher to talk to their students who are ELL and she is unable to understand what they are trying to say he/she can use the translator to interact with the student.
Similar Sites:
Tech Tip- Tracy Hutchins
Zamzar
Zamzar-Tracy Hutchins
http://www.zamzar.com
Overview: Zamzar is a website to convert documents, images, videos, music, and etc to other formats. It is completely free and does not require any downloads. Users are able to upload files from their computer or take files from URL and convert them into other formats for free. You can convert:
What you Can Convert
-Document formats -Video formats
-image formats -e-book formats
-music formats -compressed formats
-CAD format
Advantages:
-basic version is free
-easy to use
-performs conversions on wide range of formats without having to download any software
-sends an email to you when conversions are done
-with subscription it offers online file management, and quicker queing and conversion
times, and personal inbox where you can store all converted files, ability to share with
friends
-can convert a file by email by attaching the file you want to convert to a new email or
forward an existing email and send email to format@zamzar.com
-can convert files from Iphone or Ipad
-can convert files directly from your email account without needing to use the Zamzar
website, also can use zamzar web brower button for web browser so it can convert files
from all your favorite websites at click of button
-allows you to stream converted videos and audio to your iphone, ipad and ipod
Disadvantages:
-email time often varies in time for 3 to 4 hrs to a couple days with free version
-some conversions may be corrupt or be reformatted
-not clear if your privacy is comprised and if Zamzar can claim intellectual rights over your material
-with free service converted files are only stored for 24 hr period or you will receive file download expired message
-with free option, only able to upload up to 100MB of data split between up to 5 different files, with subscription can upload up to 1GB in size, many videos are more than 100MB
split
Technical Directions:
Steps to Convert
1. On home page select file or URL to convert
2. Choose the format to convert to
3. Enter your email address to receive converted files
4. Click convert
5. Click ok at the next pop up window
It may take a few hours for your notification email but when you do click on the link provided in the email to go to the download page, you only have 24hrs to download your file before it is deleted
6. Click Download Now and save the file to your computer
Hint: if saving from home you will need to copy the file onto a thumb drive or cd to bring to school and you should change the file name before clicking save to download
Uses in the Elementary Classroom
-use to download and convert educational videos from Teacher Tube or You Tube to use in the classroom since often these sites are blocked by filters at school
-convert videos into audio, mp3 or other formats for listening versus watching, like a speech, or a story being read for a station or listening corner
-download sounds or videos to use in powerpoint or other presentation
-able to convert pdf files or files from mac to pc or vice versa if computers are not compatable
-able to use just song off a video for in class use
Similar Sites
Movavi Online-free online video converter (unique feature allows you to select multiple downloaded videos and merge them into one long movie)
YouConvertIt-free online media converter(no download required, documents, images, audio, video and archives)
MediaConverter-free and paid online Audio and video converter(available in several languages)(just audio and video)
Media-Convert-online Media Converter(able to save up to 200MB)(video, images, documents, archives and sounds)
Voki – Emily Litchford
Source- www.voki.com
Overview: Voki is a tool for students and teachers. This website is easy to use and super fun. Voki is a website used to create avatars that the creator personalizes. The avatars speak anything that you type, upload, or record through a microphone or telephone. These avatars can be used for just fun as well as teaching. After creating the avatar, you can publish it to almost anything, such as websites, social networking, emails, etc. You can save the avatar for future use or create it for one use and then delete it. The website also provides embedded codes, etc. to make publishing simple and easy.
Advantages: Voki is really interesting and super fun to use.
For teachers:
It is a good tool to use in the classroom and provides many different options to use
For Students:
Motivate students to participate
Improve message comprehension
Introduce technology in a fun way
Can be an effective language tool
Disadvantages: There are not many disadvantages except if you do not purchase the “classroom”
Only 60 seconds of speech allowed per avatar, or text that fills the box (90 seconds with classroom)
No privacy settings (without classroom purchase)
Every student must register and teacher does not have all the students together unless they upload their avatar on a separate web page (may be difficult for elementary students)
No support unless purchase of classroom (unlimited email support) Not necessarily needed because the website is pretty simple
Technical Directions: This website is very simple to use. I will show you how to create, and if you need more help you can watch this video!
Go to voki.com
Click create or sign up (to keep voki)
Create and post
Uses in the classroom:
Create voki to introduce each student or they can create their own and say a blurb about themselves (older grades)
Create a voki to highlight important facts or parts from a story (teacher or student)
Students can practice small sentences in a different language (or English for ELL or young students with speech or writing problems) to see if the sentence sounds correct, or how to say certain sentences.
For example, a lesson on voki’s lesson plan page is; the teacher creates 5 vokis. During English class, when working on grammar and sentence structure, the teacher has each voki saying a sentence. 3 out of the 5 voki’s will say a sentence with correct grammar and structure, while 2 will be incorrect grammar and structure. Students must figure out which two voki’s are incorrect, explain why, and create a voki that relays the information of the message again, just correctly. This can be used as a formal assessment as well as a quiz or summative assessment.
Similar sites: www.sitepal.com à used more for businesses/ not classroom friendly
www.noahx.com àmore complicated and not as educational
Source: nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph
Overview-
The purpose of nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph is to help the students make different graphs. The different types of graphs they can make are bar, line, area, pie, and xy.
Advantages-
Disadvantages-
Technical Directions-
- You go to http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph
- You pick which graph you want to use; they are pie, bar, line, area, XY
- Then you fill out the design, data, labels, preview
- Then you can go email it, print it, or save it
Here’s a video for a step by step walk through:Uses in the classroom
Similar sites-
- http://www.onlinecharttool.com- Has more choices for graphs but more complex
- http://chartgizmo.com/- You have to pay for it, and not as user friendly
Example:Prezi - by Paige Roberts
Source - www.prezi.com
Overview -
Prezi is an online presentation software. The creators refer to Prezi as a new form of whiteboards and slides. Prezi can make simple, informational presentations more interactive and appealing to an audience. The software allows editing and sharing of online presentations. People can comment on the presentations if they are made public by the user. The website offers a free account type referred to as a Basic license. Users can upgrade their accounts to enable more features with an annual fee. Teachers and students have the ability to obtain an Edu Enjoy license for free which enables privacy and support features. It is a useful tool for teachers and especially students to show and share information.
Advantages -
There are many advantages to using this website for presentations. The Basic account is free and requires a minimum amount of personal information. Users can log on using their email or a Facebook account. Teachers and students that have an email ending in edu can upgrade to an Enjoy account for free. The Enjoy license allows users more storage space, a privacy option, and technical support. Regular users can try the Enjoy and Pro license with no fee for 30 days. For people with an iPad, there is a Prezi app that can be downloaded onto your device.
The program allows users to insert text, frames, pictures, tables, video, shapes, PowerPoint slides, or files into the presentation. The editing tools are easy to understand and implement. The program automatically saves your presentation continuously. The website provides detailed instructions for how to use the software and a help button within the editing program. There is an option to share your Prezi with others through email and they can view or even edit the presentation. You can also export your presentation and save it on your computer to play offline.
Disadvantages -
There were some disadvantages that I found while using the software. Users can only have access to all of Prezi’s features with an annual fee. The fee for a Pro license is decreased for teachers and students, but it is still a significant cost. Users can edit their Prezi’s offline using Prezi Desktop, but only under the Pro license and cost. For Basic account users, all of the Prezi presentations they create are made public. There is a limit on storage space with each account package offered. If you use your email that you also use for your Facebook account, it will automatically connect with Facebook.
To use with a class of students, each student would need to create their own. If the students do not have edu email addresses than they will only be able to access the Basic account for free and their presentations will be public. To use Prezi with a classroom of students, the teacher of school may need to may for each account. There are discounts for multiple accounts, but it would still be a major cost.
In regards to the editing and creation of the Prezi presentation, there are some limitations. There are only five templates available to begin a project. These themes are not universal and need to be dramatically changed to fit the information being presented. The program also features some color and font schemes, but they are limited. The color scheme selected limits the color choices for some of the shapes that can be inserted, such as arrows.
Technical Directions -
1. Create an account using your email or Facebook account.
2. Once you are signed in, click “New Prezi.”
3. Enter a title and a description of your presentation and click the “New Prezi” button again.
4. Choose a template and click “Start Editing.”
5. Your new Prezi template will appear and you can begin editing.
6. Select any of the options in the upper left corner that you wish to add to your Prezi.
7. When clicking on anything in your presentation, this three ringed circle will appear. The outer circle will change you angle of the item, the next circle makes the item bigger or small by clicking the plus and minus symbols, and the inner circle will move the item.
8. After you have added everything you want into the Prezi, you should select path.
9. Click each item in your presentation in the order you want them to be seen in the presentation.
10. Click the button in the bottom right corner labeled “Show” to preview your completed Prezi.
11. You can then print, export, exit or watch your presentation.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
Prezi is a website that is great for educators and students. Teachers can use this to make classroom presentations and as a tool to communicate with parents. Educators could make a Prezi on any given topic and easily incorporate multimedia. Many teachers use emails to communicate with parents. They could put the information they are sending in emails into a Prezi presentation and then email the presentation to the parents. The teacher would be able to add notes, documents, pictures and more while using innovative and interactive technology.
Students can use Prezi for individual or group presentations. The sharing and meeting tools within Prezi make it easy to have multiply users work on the same presentation at once. They will also be able to work on their presentations on multiple computers at home or at school as long as they have an internet connection. Students could use Prezi for book reports, “all about me” or beginning of school presentations, multimedia projects, and specific research topics within any subject. For any project or assignment a student would normally use Microsoft PowerPoint to complete, they can substitute Prezi.
Similar Sites -
www.sliderocket.com - Similar free and priced account plans, less interactive and more parallel to Microsoft PowerPoint with slides and basic templates
http://www.empressr.com – not as user friendly, requires more personal information, and less interactive
Storybird
By: Joelle Martin
Overview:
Storybird is a service that allows for collaborative storytelling to connect kids and their families. It allows for two (or more) people to create a Storybird collaboratively, by each creating a page of the story in a round robin fashion. These stories can be shared publically or privately with whom you chose. The students can then read stories made by other students.
Advantages:
It is free and will always be free. Even for classroom set of thirty, there is no cost. The only expense is if the students want their stories in a hard copy, it costs about fourteen dollars to print.
Storybird allows for students to invite classmates to work on their story collaboratively.
Storybird is very easy to use and saves all of your stories in your account. This way you do not have to publish your stories and you can come back and edit them whenever you want.
Once a story is published, you can still go back and edit the story.
Safe for students because it is not a virtual world, so there is not chat engine built into Storybird. Also, Storybird does not create a profile page that reveals any information about the student. The student does not even have to use their real name or picture. The stories you create have privacy settings, so you can make sure you know who is seeing your stories.
Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence by having the students create stories.
Students can create a reading list of the books that they want to read.
Disadvantages:
There are limited artwork choices, so you can only use the artwork that they have on the site. You cannot upload your own pictures on Storybird. Also, there is a limited layout for the different way the pages can be arranged so it limits children’s creativity.
The only person that can delete a story is the one who created it.
Technical Directions:
Go to www.Storybird.com
Click on the “Create” tab and pick an artwork or theme that interests you.
Click the "Start a Storybird" button.
Drag artwork to the white canvas and add text to the page.
To invite others to collaborate on your story just hit the Menu button in the top right of the screen and select “Invite Someone.”
To publish your story hit the menu button again and select “Publish this Storybird.”
Uses in the Elementary School Classroom:
Students can work collaboratively on stories even with students that are not in their school. They can take turns each making a page to create a story.
Helps students understand sequencing and order in a story. Also can be useful for a lesson on learning about the beginning, middle, and end of a story.
When students are done early with their work they can read stories on Storybird or create their own stories to share.
http://www.tikatok.com/create- not as kid friendly
http://www.storyjumper.com/book/create- Allows for more customization, but is more complicated and you cannot share your story with other students.
Amanda Henry
Source:
http://animoto.com/
Overview:
This basic idea of Animoto is that you can make beautiful digital videos using photos, video clips, as music. It is another teaching technique to incorporate technology into the classroom because has multiple different features. It is almost like a slideshow, but with many additional features. It takes three simple steps in order to complete a video. Animoto is similar to a scrapbook that you can easily share with others through today's technology.
Advantages:
- The videos are very easy to share. For example, you can easily send them through email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, or even through its very own Animoto application for the iPhone.
- It is easy to embed the videos with one simple link.
- Every video that you create can be unique and different from the previous one since there are many options.
- You can control the effects that are used.
- You can use any type of music you would like, and the Animoto website has thousands of licensed songs.
- The videos are high definition, which is perfect for creating DVD's.
- It is much easier to use than Powerpoint
- It automatically adds in transitions so that the video can be played smoothly.
- Quick and effortless to use
Disadvantages:
- The prices are a disadvantage
- Plus version is $30 a year or $5 dollars a month, which is not bad.
- Pro version is $249 a year or $39 a month.
- The free version has limited access to what effects are used and can only be up to 30 seconds.
Technical Direction:
1. First you will chose a background that you would like to use for your video.
2. On the left, there will be a toolbar with style, music, pictures, and text.
3. Choose the details that you would like.
4. Hit create video and there you go!
Uses in Elementary Classroom:
- Animoto is a good source of technology for the classroom.
- Students can create videos in a decent amount of time that bring lessons to life.
- Educators can apply for a free Animoto Plus.
- For any project, you can have students create an Animoto on what they have learned throughout whatever the current lesson being covered is. Since we are dealing with elementary students, this website is nice and easy for them. They simply just enter the information and the video creates itself. It will demonstrate how well they know certain concepts.
- It can be a great opener for new material.
Similar Sites:
http://studio.stupeflix.com/
www.kizoa.com
Xtranormal.com
By Christina Caporale
Overview:
Xtranormal is a website where you can create interactive cartoon videos with many different characters and settings. It allows you to create a story, share a story, and watch other people’s stories. This site can be in your classroom as well as for your business.
Advantages:
- It is a simple to use program with many different features.
- Able to be uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, email, or can be downloaded to a computer for later viewing, using the teacher platform.
- A great way for students to get excited about a lesson.
- Characters on this site are great for making lessons. Some of the characters include Napoleon and Aristotle to U.S. Presidents.
- Each student is provided with a unique PIN number (Xtranormal refers to this as a Student Token) that gives them access to their class and their assignments. Assignments can then be used to assess if a student is truly grasping the concepts being taught in the classroom and/or identify any difficulties they may have.
- In the educational platform there are many different forms of security for your students.
- Securely controlled. Special tools allow you to create assignments, moderate, grade, and give feedback. All within the privacy of your class.
Disadvantages:Costs:
For one person- It is free to sign up but you need to buy “xtranormal points” to get new characters and scenery. You get 300 “Xtranormal points” when you sign up.
For business- business plan- $50 per month
Reseller plan- $75 per month
Custom plan
For education- 14 day free trial
10$ for teacher access per month, then .50 cents for per student per month.
Technical Directions:
Uses in your classroom:
This is a great website for students and teachers. As a teacher you can make your own lesson plan using Xtranormal, to make lessons more engaging. Language learning is easy, history becomes cool, and civics debates are fun. For students, it is a great way for them to get involved with what they are learning and use their creativity. For example, they can recreate moments in history, make their won written story come to life or even tell about their own experiences using fun characters.
Websites like Xtranormal:
http://www.miivies.com/classics/index.php This site has a limited set of characters. It also isn’t geared toward teaching like the other sites.
http://digitalfilms.com/ This site is similar but the characters do not talk, and it is not as high of picture quality.
http://goanimate.com/ This site is also a good site for teachers; it starts at $8 per month. But this site doesn’t have as many characters you can use.
Teachersfirst.com
Jenna Kopf
Teachersfirst.com is a free, nonprofit website that allows teachers to search for resources to use in the classroom. You can find lessons, units, and other web resources. It allows teachers to organize the resources they find so that they can easily access them in their favorites instead of having to search again. This site also allows parents and students to have access to the resources.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
Uses in the Classroom:
Teachersfirst can be used in any classroom. As a teacher you can go to it to find well planned out lesson plans that already have powerpoints and other resources. You can easily add games to your favorites an during computer time have students go onto teachers first and play the games you already approved for them. You can also have the games be for homework or inform parents of the resources for a way for the children to get extra help at home. If you wanted to share a lesson plan that you are doing in the classroom with the parents, you can make it public for them to see. This could encourage parent involvement if you need help. Allowing the parent to see the lesson plan helps them see what they will be doing if they volunteer.
Similar Sites:
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/ – less resources on the actual webpage, use a google search engine
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/teacher-resources/websites.php – no way to organize what resources you find
http://www.educationworld.com/ – has advertisments
Weebly- By Emily Rissinger
Example:
**http://learningisfun1234.weebly.com/#/**
Source:
**http://education.weebly.com/**
Overview:
Weebly is a site that allows you to make an easy, free website. It is a good tool for businesses to make a website and it is great for teachers for making class websites. It is very fun and simple to use.
Advantages:
-Free
-A fun, easy way to create a website
-Many templates to choose from
-Reliable cloud hosting
-Easy to manipulate with an undo and redo button
-Can collect assignments online
-Can do quick surveys
-Can be easily contacted by parents
-Class can be informed about activities going on by just looking online reducing papers sent home, promoting a green community
-Can password protect
-Can make student websites in bulk password protected or public
-Can edit anywhere
-Has spell check
-Easy to move boxes around
-Can choose from many different languages for the page such as English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, and many others.
-So many fun colors to choose from for text
-Uploading picture and video is simple
-Students can have their own password protected accounts too
Disadvantages:
-Not all of it is free, may trick you into purchasing a domain name when you are already given a link.
- If you want to password protect the site you must go pro. Going pro gives you 10 sites per account, unlimited pages per students’ individual websites, 100 MB file uploads, an audio player, a video player, and the ability to embed documents into the site. For pro it is $39.95.
-Can’t remove Weebly stamp at the bottom, unless switched to pro.
-When you change the theme all the text you fixed to be bigger or formatted changes back to the way it was.
- Need to go pro and pay in order to have student pages
Technical Directions:
First you come to the weebly home page:
It is easy to sign up. Once you have decided on a name and password it will ask you for your school name, district, and where you are. I put Millersville for mine. Then you will come to the main page where you can play around with text, pictures, boxes, and themes easily by clicking and dragging. When you have everything the way you would like it, you can publish the site. Your site is the blue hyperlink, everything else cost money, so stick with that. Now your students and parents have a classroom page to use anywhere there is internet.
Uses in the Elementary Classroom:
You can use it for informational use, such as a class website. You can use it to collect and announce due dates of assignments, allow parents to get all information so it isn’t lost in book bags, and can even use it as a reward if you put games on it.
Similar Sites:
-http://www.similarsites.com/goto/webs.com?ref=0705&pos=1&s=10 Webs is similar, also free, but not as education based.
- http://www.similarsites.com/goto/yola.com?ref=0705&pos=2&s=10 Yola is more focused towards businesses.
- http://www.xanga.com/ is similar in format, but mainly for blogging and personal use. Not as easy as Weebly because you must use html codes and it is a bit more technical.
WordPress.com –By: Brittany Rohrer
Source:
http://wordpress.com/
Example
Overview: WordPress is a free online blog where you are able to share your thoughts and ideas in a way that others can see, or just for your own personal use. It is also a place to go and be a part of other blogs by reading them or following them.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
Uses in classroom:
Similar Sites:
www.blogger.com -This is the google version of a blog, and would be more of a simpler yet similar site. It is also free.
http://penzu.com/ -This is an online Journal or diary. Set up to look like notebook paper. Also free.
Blabberize by Stephanie Latschar
Got a picture? Blabberize it!
Source:blabberize.com
Example
Overview: Blabberize is a website that allows you to bring a picture to life by literally making it talk. This website allows users combine a picture or pictures with audio to create scenes that can stand alone or be combined to make a multi-scene production. Blabberize is fun and extremely easy to use. Although Blabberize is not specifically designed to be an educational tool, this website has many applications in the elementary classroom.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Technical Directions:
Uses in the Elementary Classroom:
-Students could make a “blabber” to introduce themselves to the class at the beginning of the school year.
-Students could make a “blabber” to present research they conducted on a historical figure or famous person.
-“Blabbers” can be created of plants or animals to present information that was researched.
-The teacher could create a “blabber” to give instructions to the class.
-Students can read a favorite picture book, and illustrate pictures to be created into a Blabberize movie of the story.
There are many interesting educational uses for blabberize.com online. I would encourage everyone to check them out!!
Similar Sites:
goanimate.com: This website is very similar to blabberize.com but it is not as simple to use and would require more instructions to younger students. There are more advanced options on this site.
bubblesnaps.com: This website allows your pictures to talk, but uses speech bubbles instead of actually adding audio to the pictures. This site would not be as fun for students to use in the classroom and does not allow as many different ways to share your creation as Blabberize does.
voki.com: This website is similar to blabberize.com because you can use your own voice to create the audio, but instead of using a picture, you create an avatar on this site.
Speakaboos by Kristina Runyeon
Source -Speakaboos
Overview -
Speakaboos is a site that brings classic children's entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through illustrations and original music. Children develop literacy skills in a safe and fun environment. Speakaboos' stories fall into five main genres: Fables, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Nursery Rhymes, and Songs. Speakaboos partners with some of today's celebrities to have them record children's stories for the website. Subscription costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.Advantages -
Disadvantages -
Technical Directions-
Uses in the Elementary Classroom -
Speakaboos has many uses in the class. Teachers could use this during reading center time or they could have a student read the actual story in a book and then go on the website and play the games or do the comprehension activities. There are specific lesson plans on the site made just for certain stories that can be used. Speakaboos could also be a fun homework assignment that parents could be involved with. The bedtime stories could even be used at naptime in the lower grades that still take naps or have quiet time. In addition to doing extras pertaining to certain stories, students can just go to the printable section for fun or for extra reinforcement and practice their alphabet, do arts and crafts, print coloring pages, do puzzles, take quizzes using just prior knowledge, practice rhyming, or practice spelling. There is a great array of possibilities for using Speakaboos in the elementary classroom.
Similar Sites
storylineonline.netThe stories here are also read by celebrities, but it does not offer nearly as many book choices or additional content.
candlelightstories.comThis site is aimed more towards adults so it is not as child friendly. They take submissions from outside writers and illustrators.
storynory.com These free audio stories are read by actors and a new one is published every week. There are ads and no extra activities.
Bitstrips - Gabrielle Larson
Overview: Bitstrips is a website that allows users to create their own comics. This website
combines premade characters, sets and props with their individual creativity.
Advantages:
- Users have the ability to create up to six comic panels or one large scene with lots of details
- Some of the premade characters resemble famous people; such as George Bush or Barak Obama
- Users have the ability to alter the positions of the characters they use – from standing to sitting or in mid-run
- Once you set up an account, you can regulate the privacy settings on you individual comic strips (public or private)
- The site allows teachers to set up a classroom account. With a simple classroom code, students can search for their teacher’s account. With this individual account, teachers can add students to their account and regulate the comics they make.
- Characters, props, and sets are organized alphabetically
- You can look for “props” using a search bar
- Certain items are delete-able from a premade scene
- They are currently hosting a “Stop Bullying” campaign
- When you insert a conversation bubble, the font is similar to what you would see in a newspaper comic, so it allow students to feel as if they are making a genuine comic that is ready for publication
Disadvantages:- The site does not allow the illustrator to alter the background in terms of color or size.
- For the education portion of the site, after the 1 month free trial, the website begins to charge
- $9.95 per month for the first classroom
- $4.95 per additional classroom (1 classroom = 40 students)
- If enrolling by district, the price is approximately $1.50 per student per year (minimum of 200 students)
- Some of the arrows can be difficult to understand or cue
- If you wish to edit a completed bitstrip, after your resave, it does not delete the old version of the comic
Technical Directions:- First CLICK HERE
- For free usage, click the Daily Funnies Starring YOU! option
- To begin an un-saveable bitstrip, click the Comic option under the Create heading
- The default setting for a bitstrip is three panels; to change this select the Layout option at the top of the screen
- You can use the different heading to create your bitstrip, simply click the desired character, scene, or prop from the bar at the top and drag it down to the preferred panel
- After you have designed the bitstrip to your liking, you can add speech bubbles or caption boxes to the comic to fully covey your idea
- Under the Controls heading, if a character is selected, you can alter their facial expression, the size and shape of their pupils, and their body position
- In order to complete production of you bitstrip, you must give your comic a name.
- If you wish to save your comic, you can sign up or log in; there is also an option to link your account with Bitstrips to your Facebook.
- After you save, you can decide if you want to publish your bitstrip for public viewing or keep it private
Uses in the Classroom:- There are several ways that you can use this website in a classroom. For example,
- “Historical Guess Who Game”
- “How To” Guide to illustrate a companion writing piece
- an alternative book report
- Because some former politicians are included in the Character Gallery, you can ask the students to illustrate an important moment in history
Similar Sites:Final Exam Project
Apps wiki- url information
http://thutchins.wikispaces.com/apps+wiki
hope this is useful for people